In $1 million document, Cowlitz tribe defends casino's potential environmental impact
Sunday, June 29, 2008 1:13 AM PDT
By Thacher Schmid
Printable version
E-mail this articleThe casino/resort the Cowlitz Indian tribe has proposed to build near La Center is as big as seven Longview Wal-Marts — or three Portland Rose Gardens.
The $510 million development would contain an eight-story hotel, three parking garages, shopping center, bars, restaurants and convention center. They would be wrapped around a centrally-located casino featuring 3,000 video gaming terminals, 153 gaming tables and 40 poker tables.
The casino would increase total gaming revenues in Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon by 80 percent.
There would be space for 7,250 vehicles. Each day, the resort would generate 14 tons of solid waste and suck 475,497 gallons of water from Clark Public Utilities — up to 11 percent of the utility's remaining capacity.
The 4,011 construction jobs would generate a payroll of $185 million during construction; 3,151 permanent employees would work from an annual payroll of $88 million.
These and other "gee whiz" details can be found in the final environmental impact statement the tribe paid a Sacramento company $1 million to complete. The statement was subcontracted by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and published by the bureau on the tribe's Web site May 30.
Written by Analytical Environmental Services on the bureau's behalf, the statement's conclusions won't encourage casino opponents. Despite the project's colossal scope, the statement says its impact would be minor.
Over and over, the document concludes the project's negative impacts on regional roads, crime, schools, housing, threatened or endangered fish and birds and the environment would be "mitigated" - prevented or contained — to "less than significant" levels. It says the development will have "beneficial" economic effects.
"We think it's a train wreck," Tom Hunt of Citizens Against Reservation Shopping said. "It mitigates against nothing. It doesn't acknowledge any of the serious impacts such a facility would have. We think it should be withdrawn."
At the request of U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, the public comments period was extended from Monday, June 30 by one month, to July 30, said Gerald Henrikson of the bureau's Portland office.
More numbers
The facility's 150,480-square-foot hotel would hold 250 rooms and rise eight stories. The hotel would be the tallest building on the 152-acre site off Interstate 5 near La Center.
Its Vegas-style casino — the nerve center of the whole structure — would be among the biggest on the West Coast and, in addition to video gaming, poker and other gaming tables, it would offer keno and off-track betting. The gaming complex would represent an 82 percent increase in the number of existing video gaming terminals and 79 percent addition to total existing gaming revenues in Southwest Washington and Northwest Oregon, according to the impact statement.
Surrounding the gaming area would be 165,000 square feet of retail space, 95,225 square feet of restaurant space and 35,600 square feet of bar space. By comparison, the Rose Garden in Portland encloses 210,000 square feet.
The facility will have its own on-site sewage treatment plant, which will treat 310,000 gallons of wastewater a day. The necessary 27,631 kilowatts of power would require a new substation and miles of transmission and feeder lines. The facility would burn 240 million cubic feet of natural gas per year.
The facility's $415 million annual revenue would fund $113 million for social, health, housing and educational programs for 3,600 tribal members — about the same as Cowlitz County's $115 million annual revenues two years ago.
Transportation
Thousands of cars, trucks and RVs headed to the casino each day would cause transportation headaches along I-5 corridor. Amongst five regional gaming facilities studied — Chinook Winds in Lincoln City, Ka-Nee-Tah southwest of Portland, Lucky Eagle near Rochester, Spirit Mountain west of Salem, Ore. and La Center's four card rooms — "the most significant impact" in those communities was "traffic related."
The Washington State Department of Transportation also considers the Ridgefield and La Center exchanges a "high accident corridor," the final environmental impact statement notes.
About 91 percent of an estimated 19,574 vehicle trips on a weekend day — 16,714 daily trips on a weekday - would come from the Portland-Vancouver metro area. That estimate doesn't include vehicles that would come for special events in the resort's 5,000-seat venue. By comparison, 129,000 vehicles cross the I-5 bridge between Portland and Vancouver per day.
If the resort is approved, the statement finds, area drivers should expect "increases in local traffic including minor effects on the I-5 bridge." Peak hour trips to the resort "have the potential to reduce levels of service on three northbound segments of I-5 and I-205."
In other words, slowdowns and traffic stoppages on I-5 in the area would be more likely with so many additional vehicles on the road — particularly when the Amphitheater at Clark County venue just south of La Center has a major act.
The statement concludes that mitigation measures such as construction changes to the I-5 on and off ramps at La Center Road would reduce total impacts to "less than significant."
Crime and gambling
The statement says local crime would likely increase — but concludes that would be because of the "increased concentration of people," not to the casino per se.
Police were contacted in six Northwest areas where casinos with slots, gaming tables and a hotel were built: "All reported the typical crimes and/or calls for service that have increased include driving under the influence, personal robbery, credit card fraud, auto thefts, disorderly conduct, and assault," according to the impact statement.
"The officials noted an overall increase in crime due to an increased concentration of people within the local area," the statement says. "(No department could implicate the casino as the direct cause of the increase in crime."
The statement finds there is no "definitive link" between increased crime and the presence of a casino.
A tribal law that promises cooperation with Clark County sheriff's office and revenue sharing with Clark County would compensate for any crime increases, the statement concludes.
Critics of the casino proposal have pointed out that problem gamblers make up an average of 3 percent to 5 percent of the population and say the new facility will create more. The impact statement's executive summary notes "problem gambling issues" were a frequent cause for concern in comments submitted to the bureau.
The statement estimates the numbers of problem gamblers in the area from past studies and determines that "one additional counselor (with an annual salary of $47,500) would be needed for increased problem gambling" resulting from the project.
Therefore, a proposed $50,000 minimum annual contribution by the tribe to an area problem gambling program would be an "appropriate" measure to address any increase in problem gambling, the statement concludes.
Water and air
The proposed development would sit on the edge of the watershed of the East Fork of the Lewis River. The watershed is classified by the state Department of Ecology as "extraordinary waters" that harbor seven threatened or endangered fish species.
A comment from a state Fish & Wildlife official calls the East Fork of the Lewis River "one of the most important watersheds ... for protection of fish and fish habitat, particularly for listed species."
Storm water and effluent discharge from the resort would have "potential" impacts to threatened or endangered fish by increasing turbidity and water temperatures or discharging pollutants.
Due to regular water discharges by the resort, a seasonal stream leading to the East Fork of the Lewis River would become perennial, flowing continuously with wastewater that would "meet all water quality standards."
The statement said treated wastewater discharged from the casino sewage plant would "improve the water quality by providing a water source for the entire year" and reducing solid waste in the stream, which used to be used by a farm with livestock.
Measures such as creating wetlands and vegetative swales to treat storm water would reduce water quality impacts to "less than significant," the statement finds.
Air pollution caused by 6 million annual vehicle trips to the site is the only ecological effect that can't be controlled, the statement concludes. But, it says, the effects are acceptable because the pollution will be dispersed.
"It is expected that all environmental impacts can be reasonably mitigated to less than significant levels, with the exception of impacts to air quality," the impact statement says. "This is an unavoidable adverse effect."
Air pollution caused by the project will exceed standards for carbon dioxide, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxide, according to the impact statement. For example, emissions of carbon dioxde — a greenhouse gas — will be more than 100 tons per year.
The project would cause noise and light pollution as well, both during construction and normal operation.
Strategic lighting and use of special low sodium light bulbs would minimize noise and lighting impacts on birds, making them "less than significant," the study finds.
A bald eagle nest is in use one mile from the site, yet the resort "would not have a major impact" on local resident bald eagle populations, the statement finds. If a nest were detected by a preconstruction biological survey within a half-mile of the site during the mating season of Jan. 15 to Aug. 1, construction would be temporarily stopped, according to the document.
Casino competition
The Cowlitz tribe's resort, the impact study determines, would by itself increase total video "slot" machines and table games in the region by about 80 percent.
The document finds the Cowlitz casino would result in significant losses to La Center's four card rooms and the Grande Ronde tribe's Spirit Mountain casino resort west of Salem. The Grand Ronde would lose $17 million annually of its current $130 million gaming revenues by 2011 if the Cowlitz project is built, the statement finds.
Basic services provided by the La Center government wouldn't be affected, it finds, because the city doesn't use the card room tax revenue for its basic services, putting most of it into its long-term fund.
The statement includes a provision that the Cowlitz tribe replace the City of La Center's missing card room taxes — which would drop the city's annual revenue 66 percent from $2.7 million to $1 million — over a 10-year period. The tribe would submit funds to be held in escrow for the City of La Center, the statement says.
Significant expected losses by the Grand Ronde and the card rooms are the reason both entities have spent large sums opposing the tribe's proposal in recent years.
Housing and Schools
The statement concludes that 90 percent of the casino resort's full-time workforce would come from Cowlitz or Clark counties, so only 315 new workers would move into the
La Center-Woodland-Ridgefield area. With such a small number of newcomers to the area, the impact on local housing and schools would be "less than significant."
A majority of the members of the Cowlitz tribe currently live outside the two-county area, and the statement notes many tribal members "have become relatively widely dispersed over time as a result of the tribe's historic circumstances."
The statement does not find that significant numbers of tribal members or others from out of the area would move into the area to work at the resort. This conclusion about an apparently low immigration into the area and the resulting mild effects on local rentals, real estate, jobs, goods and services is hotly contested by several area municipalities, counties, school districts and chambers of commerce.
For example, both the city of Woodland and Woodland school district have opposed the casino project, saying it will drive population and boost demand on public utilities, roads and an already overcrowded school system.
Cowlitz County Commissioners' comments, for example, point to a possible drain on emergency services, affordable housing, school systems and tax revenues. These comments reflect similar concerns submitted by Clark County, the towns of La Center and Woodland, area school districts and chambers of commerce.
citizen_jane wrote on Jun 29, 2008 6:38 AM:
Beer&Skittles wrote on Jun 29, 2008 7:57 AM:
roudy russ wrote on Jun 29, 2008 8:02 AM:
Lance Johnson wrote on Jun 29, 2008 8:53 AM:
viper wrote on Jun 29, 2008 9:58 AM:
FiscalConservative wrote on Jun 29, 2008 11:54 AM:
Viewpoint wrote on Jun 29, 2008 1:05 PM:
bmoc wrote on Jun 29, 2008 1:11 PM:
cynic954 wrote on Jun 29, 2008 1:38 PM:
Citizen Joe wrote on Jun 29, 2008 3:04 PM:
Crime will go SKY HIGH!
Get your gun! "
Burgermeister wrote on Jun 29, 2008 3:54 PM:
uscitizen wrote on Jun 29, 2008 10:16 PM:
Rosey Glasses wrote on Jun 29, 2008 10:44 PM:
thacherschmid wrote on Jun 30, 2008 9:02 AM:
STC101 wrote on Jul 1, 2008 5:39 PM:
For example, "a proposed $50,000 minimum annual contribution by the (Cowlitz) to an area problem gambling program would be an "appropriate" measure to address any increase in problem gambling, the statement concludes."
$50,000 is the exact amount offered in the Sonoma County casino DEIS for mitigation of increased gambling addiction. Different populations, different patronage, different regions with different costs of living. Different, different, different - but it will take exactly the same amount of money to "mitigate" increased gambling addiction in La Center WA as it will in Sonoma County, CA, an area that has a much higher cost of living than even urban Washington state, much less rural WA.
The comments on increased population/housing needs are the same as CA's. I'm pretty sure the comments about wastewater are similar.Impacts are minimized, and declared to be "mitigatable". This sort of thing makes me sick. The name of the game is get the casino built,and screw the environment. What a sham! "
Justine wrote on Jul 8, 2008 4:07 PM:
Most people don't realize that we refused to be a part of treaty negotiations in the 1850s because the treaty said that we would not be granted a reservation. Therefore, our land was stripped away from us (a.k.a. stolen) and we were forced to enter into the dominant European society.
At our chairman's funeral a few weeks ago, his son noted how our tribe is a generation ahead of other Native American tribes because we weren't given a choice about assimilation. We had to wait ~150 years to get federal recogition and even that was fought until we got it reaffirmed in 2002.
Our history and our culture is on the edge of a swordpoint--trying to revitalize our culture. Money is needed for that. It is an unfortunate truth, but a truth nonetheless. We've used some of our funds already to hire a linguist to write down the Cowlitz language.
On another note, in 1850, we had a census of about 40,000 Cowlitz Indians and today we have less than 3,000 of "part-Cowlitz Indians." 90% casualty rate, anyone? It makes me angry when people don't acknowledge the extreme wrongs of this. "
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