The proposed mine would sprawl over a huge area that includes spawning waters for the famed commercial, sport and subsistence fisheries of Southwest Alaska, including Bristol Bay. The area is also home to the 120,000-plus Mulchatna caribou herd, plus numerous moose, bear and other animals.

Opponents say the proposed mine would threaten the animals' existence. Proponents disagree.

The latest volley of criticism comes in the wake of information filed Aug. 26 with the Alaska Division of Mines, which noted that the largest of the tailings dams to be built for the project would be at least 4.3 miles long and in excess of 700 feet tall.

"They are big; they are very big," said Tom Crafford, the state's large mine permitting manager. "This is the first time those dam parameters have been formally submitted."

The largest of the proposed Pebble dams would, in fact, be larger than the Three Gorges dam under construction in China, which is the largest dam in the world.

"It would be two and a half times as high as the Captain Cook Hotel," said Robin Samuelsen, president and chief executive officer of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corp. in Dillingham. "This project is so huge that the board of BBEDC is real worried about (possible effects on) the world-class fisheries and wildlife resources that have sustained people out here for thousands of years."

The Bristol Bay Native Association in Dillingham on Sept. 29 passed a resolution opposing all large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay region until studies unequivocally prove there will be no net loss to subsistence, commercial and sport users, or to the region's land, air and water quality.

Northern Dynasty Mines Inc., the Canadian firm that would develop the massive copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in Southwest Alaska, argues the water rights permit applications, which have stirred up a storm of protest, are just another small step in the process. All the Vancouver-based company is seeking right now is to have those applications accepted as complete, said Bruce Jenkins, chief operating officer for the mine project.

The size and height of the huge dams that would be part of the mining operation is nothing new, according to Jenkins. "We've been discussing the size and height of the dams in community meetings," he said.

Beyond that, Jenkins said, the area is designated for mineral exploration and development. "We look forward to that development, and no one has the right to deny us that due process. It is our job to put the project together and show it is a good project," he said.

Crafford acknowledged that his agency's only current decision regarding the water rights permit application, including the dam projects, would be to determine whether the application was complete. "We will not act on this until such time as we receive applications on the rest of the project," he said.

"What typically happens, what kicks off the process for a mine such as this, would be an application for a national pollution discharge elimination system, under the (federal) Clean Water Act, Section 402," he said.

Crafford also said the huge dam would be built in stages. "That dam would probably be raised 15 or 20 times," he said. "It just doesn't make sense to spend all that money up front to build the dam that big off the get-go, and beyond the economic issue, the idea is that you generate the material with which to build the dam during the mining process. The dam will be largely constructed of waste materials generated during the mining process."

Glen Alsworth Sr., mayor of the Lake and Peninsula Borough, meanwhile has asked that the state suspend processing applications from Northern Dynasty to construct tailings dams within the Koktuli River drainage.

Crafford, who has not yet responded to Alsworth, said "The state is not processing these applications at this point in time, and the applicant does not want us to process the applications at this point in time, and they've said as much. What they want is to have their application in the queue."

"It is hard to comprehend the scale of these dams," Alsworth said. "The dam downstream on the South Fork Koktuli is higher than the Hoover Dam or the Grand Coulee Dam. Risk to downstream resources is dependent on many variables, but one of them is the size of the dam."

Alsworth said later, in an interview, that such a project should meet standards of the federal Environmental Protection Act, and that people in Southwest Alaska, who depend culturally and economically on these natural resources, are worried about who will enforce these strict environmental standards. "We need to make sure the standards are met and exceeded," he said.

"There is a great fear of the water being polluted and the fish being killed, and that triggers a fear of degradation of subsistence, and a loss of the isolation and independence that makes us unique.

"One thing leads to another," Alsworth said. "All over America and all over the world, we have examples of colossal failure of mines, of people's lives being affected.

"We don't have to repeat it," he said.

Another issue raised by mine opponents is the potential for disaster should an earthquake cause damage to one of the huge dams.

According to reports written by Knight Piesold Consulting for Northern Dynasty, the dams could withstand the maximum ground acceleration they could experience from an earthquake in the area.

"This is not necessarily what the state would determine is adequate," Crafford said. Once the state starts its actual review of the application, almost certainly the state would go out and acquire high-powered consultants to compile an engineering review, he said. Typically the state hires the consultants and the (mining) company has to pay the consultants' bill, he said. "Part of the process of selecting these consultants is to make sure they don't have any conflict of interest."

According to Jenkins, the entire Pebble project application process won't be complete until about 2008, because the company still hasn't finalized the total mine concept, due to relatively new information on the Pebble East portion of the claim.

The state won't decide on this until the full permit application is submitted, so there is nothing to be afraid of, he said.

The critical response to date speaks of the ignorance of a small, outspoken minority about the permitting process, he said. "There is plenty of opportunity for them, during the formal permitting process, when they will have to defend what they say.

"They will have to marshal their science and their engineering, and then you will see the weakness of their positions." Jenkins said.

Critics like Samuelsen, whose family has lived in the Bristol Bay region for generations, aren't buying that.

"Most people in Bristol Bay are for small-scale mining, like we've had out here in the past," Samuelsen said. "This is going to have major social and economic impacts, with consequences for hundreds of years. People are really scared out here. Our salmon will be worthless if they are polluted salmon."

Dick Jameson, president of the Renewable Resources Coalition, also disagrees with waiting to protest the mine. "People are overwhelmingly opposed to the development," he said. "They are opposed to any large-scale mining development in the area.

"Clearly they've started the permitting process," he said. "It's irksome that they keep saying wait and see until we file for permits. It is time for people to start reviewing what their plans are. We think it's our job to make sure the public is aware of what their plans actually entail."