Fort Simpson (Mar 28/03) - Dennis Nelner is trying to spearhead a voluntary committee of regional government department managers in Fort Simpson.

These individuals could help assess the impacts from a Mackenzie Valley pipeline and, in turn, lobby the government for the resources to address those impacts, Nelner explained.

A pipeline preparedness community committee was formed in Hay River a few weeks ago, he noted.

The $3-4 billion pipeline is expected to impact the environment, health and emergency services, roads, water and sewage and other areas.

Although the project is still years away from construction -- if the political will can be cemented and the economics remain favourable -- Nelner said, "We have to sound the alarm bells now."

Benefits from the pipeline could include business opportunities, training and employment, royalties and donations from industry, said Nelner, a Fort Simpson resident and regional petroleum advisor for the Department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development.

Communities could also benefit from new and improved infrastructure and converting to natural gas, he added. Gasification hasn't proven to be a big cost savings in Inuvik, but he said the Deh Cho must learn from others' mistakes by demanding a flat rate from industry for a fixed period.

"At some point in time, you've got to put it on paper and say, 'Here's our benefits package,'" he said, adding that industry and government must both contribute.

Randy Sibbeston, president of the Fort Simpson Metis Nation and a member of the Deh Cho First Nations' pipeline working group, said the proposed committee sounds useful.

"There's definitely is a lack of resources. It's almost as though the government spent a lot of money lobbying to get the pipeline to come this way, now that it looks like it's going to happen, now what?" Sibbeston asked, adding that the DCFN's pipeline working group has been concentrating on dealing with industry.

Nelner is also advocating that communities unite to form a business protocol.

The protocol would maximize business and employment while espousing principles that would ensure the land is protected.

There are distinct opportunities for each community from forestry to the service sector to environmental services and traditional knowledge, he noted.

"You want to have industry having some certainty.

"If there's a protocol agreement as far as the social economics, then it should, in theory, work," he said.