Well the good news is

I was finally able to corner my CTO in his office, and we were able to talk it out to the point of at least dispensing with the acrimony for the remainder of of my contract.

He even went as far as to agree with basically everything I said, once it was put humbly. His point of view however, is one where even as the CTO he feels it is not his position to enforce some sort of minimum level of communication, nor even speak with his own project leaders to ensure basic healthy workplace practices. It our individual responsibility to ensure a harmonious workplace by striving to understand each others' flawed ways of working, even if that affects the bottom line, apparently.

I guess he feels that that is the project leaders' individual "way", and it would be wrong to impose another way upon them. Even one that might objectively be called "correct".

Did I mention logic is not always highly prized here?

Suffice it to say, fundamental failure of leadership is another reason to try someplace new.