Band to study oil and gas impact on community
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Liard (Feb 16/01) - The Acho Dene Koe First Nation is planning a study to examine the effects of the oil and gas industry on the community.
Results from the study will help determine if and when more land will be made available for oil and gas exploration, and under what conditions, according to Acho Dene Koe chief Judy Kotchea.
"We want to look at the negative and positive stuff, what we could have done differently... and any social effects, so for the next go-around we'll have remedies for some of the problems that may arise," she said. "Again, it's a boom and bust thing... we want to start looking at a long-term sustainable economy."
An independent consultant will likely carry out the study once funding is secured from the federal and territorial governments. Kotchea said she hopes a survey of all community members, the first step in the study, can begin by the end of the month or early March. It's hoped the study will be completed by spring or early summer, she added.
She said industry representatives have expressed support for the idea.
"They want to continue to work here. We also want to continue to work with them because we have a business to run here," she said.
"But it's better to take a breather, take a look... from there we'll decide how we're going to open up more lands, if we chose to do so."
Charlie Stewart, communications officer for Chevron Canada, commended the ADK for taking a step back to assess industry's impact on the community.
"I think they're absolutely doing this in the right way. They're trying to approach it in a methodical, careful, consensus, community-involvement type way," he said. "I'm very glad to see they have a process."
At the same time, he acknowledged that oil and gas companies have a great deal of interest in the remaining land around Fort Liard.
"I think everyone would be cautiously optimistic that if lands were opened up, they would find some success there," he said.
Chevron has met with a great deal of success in the lands it has explored and developed through the bidding process. It's K-29 and M-25 wells are producing a combined 120-million cubic feet of natural gas daily.
Both wells rank within the top five on-shore wells in Canada, according to Stewart.
"They're very prolific wells," he said. "In terms of getting there, the support from the community was tremendous."
