By the Journal of Commerce

A group opposing a possible large gold and copper mine near Illiamna, in Southwest Alaska, released a poll Sept. 22 showing that a majority of residents in the Bristol Bay region oppose the mine.

The poll, conducted by Craciun Research of Anchorage, indicates 79 percent of a sample of 411 Bristol Bay residents believe the Pebble Mine, if built, could damage the area's large salmon fisheries.

"We are not going to risk our subsistence way of life, which has sustained our families for generations, on the Pebble Mine," Lydia Olympic, a former resident of the area, said in a press release issued by Numa Aulukestai, a group opposed to the mine and that sponsored the survey.

"Sustainable development can only be based on our wild salmon, clean water and renewable energy, not on a mine that will pollute our land and water with toxic waste," Olympic said.

Olympic lives in Anchorage but formerly resided in Iqiuqi, a village on Lake Iliamna.

The survey was part of a statewide poll, but only the Bristol Bay residents' responses were released Sept. 22, Craciun said.

John Shively, president of the Pebble Partnership, a company formed to develop the mine, said he had not seen the poll but said the company does not yet know if a mine is economically feasibility or how it would be developed.

"At this point there's no project to be for or against," he said.

Shively said he is skeptical of polls sponsored by one side or another on a particular issue. He hasn't read the questions that were asked in this poll, but said questions in surveys by advocacy groups are sometimes written to elicit a certain response.

He said a number of communities and tribal councils in the region have voiced support for the project being allowed to proceed to the permit stage.

Pebble must apply for permits once a mine plan is developed. Once that is done, state and federal regulatory agencies, as well as local communities, will review the plan.

According to the press release from Numamta Aulukesti, a majority of respondents favored renewable energy development, value-added fish packing and tourism that Alaskan Native communities can be involved in rather than mining.

The survey was taken between May 18 and June 2 in six parts of the Bristol Bay and Alaska Peninsula regions.