The proposed Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska, if developed, would be one of the largest copper, gold and molybdenum mines in the world. Much of the controversy surrounding it lies in its location in the Bristol Bay region, near Lake Iliamna and Lake Clark, and at the headwaters of the Bristol Bay watershed.

As the value and demand for metals increases worldwide, so does support from Alaska's resource developers, who tout the mine's economic potential for Alaska in diversifying employment in Southwest Alaska and in a huge flow of tax dollars to state coffers.

Commercial, sport and subsistence fishing supporters, along with sport and subsistence hunters and some fisheries biologists, meanwhile, have expressed concern that the mine might do environmental harm to the Bristol Bay watershed on which they are dependent.

According to Ed Fogels, director of the office of project management and permitting for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the department is monitoring exploration activity at the Pebble site for environmental impact more than any other mining project in the state's recent history.

Fogels said state mining officials are keeping a close eye on the project, in which millions of exploration dollars are already invested, because of the higher level of public scrutiny on Pebble.

“We found they are doing a great job,” Fogels said in an interview April 7. “We want the public to understand we are keeping an eye on it.”

Fogels and Tom Crafford, DNR's large mine permitting manager, both spoke in response to a lengthy April 2 letter to the department questioning the level of transparency about environmental issues surrounding the exploration phase of the mine.

The letter, authored by independent fisheries biologist Carol Ann Woody, raises questions by fishery stakeholders regarding both water quality and fish conservation.

“Salmon spawning in different habitats are adapted to spawning site water flows, water chemistry and thermal regimes,” Woody wrote. “Changes in these parameters can adversely affect their survival. Because conservation of Bristol Bay salmon stock diversity is a key component to long-term fisheries sustainability, greater transparency by DNR regarding permitted water use and water quality monitoring would further the public's trust.”

Woody said when she served on the U.S. Geological Survey's Pebble technical advisory team, she observed that baseline data collections on natural water flows and geochemistry were being conducted at the same time as an intensive exploratory drilling program was being done. This suggests potential bias in the baseline data, she said.

Crafford, noting the length of Woody's letter, complete with numerous notes of reference to scientific papers, said he planned a detailed response to her letter.

“I'm sure the letter took her a while to write, and it will take a while to respond to,” he said.

Crafford did say that “the level of effort that goes into the permitting is by and large commensurate to level of activity, and it is probably worth noting the amount of exploration that has occurred there to date and lack of visible impacts.

“The company (the Pebble Partnership) makes summaries of baseline studies available to state agencies, and to the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Park Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, but not the public, but that is the company's choice,” he said. “We don't have a regulatory requirement for the data until they apply for the permits. We have encouraged the company to make more of their baseline studies available to the public at large, but we don't have any kind of regulatory stick to say you have to release that information.”

Pebble spokesman Sean McGee said the project has data from its stream flow monitoring and ground water monitoring programs to demonstrate that its exploration activities are not having a negative affect on fish or water.

“I think we will take the time to put the data together to make a comprehensive case,” McGee said. “We do do very extensive hydrology and other types of water monitoring, so we do know what limited effects our activities do have.”

McGee said the partnership is aware of public concern, “so we have an obligation to demonstrate that what we are doing is being done responsibly.

“Our project gets more scrutiny from regulators and the public than most other projects in the state, and I'm not complaining,” he said. “Our corporate ethic is to live up and go beyond our corporate standards. We have a high bar to get over.”

The partnership, based in Anchorage, is a joint investment of Northern Dynasty Minerals, of Vancouver, British Columbia, and London-based Anglo American, an international mining and natural resources firm.