The official public consultation period for oil and gas development in the Whitehorse Trough may have ended, but Yukoners still have things to say.

A public meeting is being planned for Thursday evening to keep the discussion alive.

Don Roberts, a former Liberal cabinet minister and an organizer of Thursday's meeting, said today "the reality is for a lot of people, they want a moratorium to allow more time to let people really look at what this is going to mean.

"But, we're not going to say that or nothing; we've got to be prepared for whatever their decision may be.”

A key point on Thursday's agenda will be the creation of numerous committees, under the overarching group, Yukoners Concern for Oil and Gas Development in the Whitehorse Trough.

"One of the first things that we're going to be doing is setting up what we call a water testing committee,” said Roberts.

The committee would gather baseline water data before any development activity occurs.

"We want the proponents to pay for it,” he said.

The committee would test for poisonous substances like benzene and glycol.

Roberts said these chemicals can occur naturally in the water. Having baseline data would allow Yukoners to measure what levels are naturally occurring and what aren't if development were to go ahead.

A fund-raising committee will also be set up, in the event that neither the government nor the companies involved will pay for the water testing.

"There are a lot of unaswered questions, and I think we want as broad a stroke as we can get with the population to input where we should be going and how the government should be responding,” said Roberts.

"The group has to be a fairly active, a very lively group in trying to get across to the politicians that this is not a done deal; you've got a lot of things to look at.

"I'm not saying in the future we shouldn't be going down this path, but let's make sure we have everything lined up to make sure that we, the Yukoners, don't suffer the consequences,” he said.

The government-run public consultation period ended on March 30.

Baseline water testing is not an automatic requirement before oil and gas drilling. However, it can be included as part of the regulatory process, said Mark Roberts, the communication director for the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, early this afternoon.

The government is considering requiring water testing as part of its decision making process, he said.

The report from the department recommending a course of action on oil and gas development in the Whitehorse Trough is expected by the end of April. All of the public comments are expected to be on the department's website by the end of this week.

Thursday's meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the CYO Hall at Sacred Heart Church at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Steele Street.

Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Brad Cathers has been invited to attend the session.

Cabinet spokeswoman Elaine Schiman said today no decision has been made yet on whether he will go.