The key word is "wetlands"--the project would entail building on an environmentally sensitive tract. Environmentalists charge that the project would roll back the remarkable progress that has been made in cleaning up the Meadowlands region. It's the old jobs-vs.-environmental impact standoff, and all the emotion involved with this one came out at the first of two public hearings conducted earlier this week by the US Army Corps of Engineers. A key point is that Mills has agreed to enhance an adjacent 592-acre wetlands tract in exchange for paving over the proposed development site.

Focus of this and a subsequent hearing scheduled for September 25th is a 2,700-page draft environmental impact study. Point and counterpoint throughout the evening alternately drew cheers and jeers from the estimated 1,000 people in attendance.

The business community and labor unions like the estimated 7,000 construction and 12,600 permanent jobs the project could create, not to mention the $14 billion in combined wages.

"This project is essential in a macro-economic sense," Richard Fritzky, president of the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce, told attendees. "It will unlock the door to a vibrant future for the region." Added Mills Corp. spokesman Mike Luchkiw, "it will produce significant environmental, social and economic benefits."

On the other side, "this final and devastating interruption of nature's processes in these wetlands has serious implications for the health of the waterways and tidal marshes," countered Rebecca Lubot, coordinator of the Hackensack Meadowlands Partners. Her group is an alliance that has been pushing for creation of a wildlife refuge on some 8,500 acres of wetlands that remain undeveloped.

In the middle are municipal officials. They like the jobs and the tax revenues, but expressed concerns over possible flooding, as well as the impact on their downtowns.