Editorial: BIA should redo Cowlitz casino study

Wednesday, July 19, 2006  

"The draft environmental impact statement for the proposed Cowlitz casino was slapped with a triple whammy of criticism last week from influential sources. On Friday, Vancouver city officials completed the trifecta by joining Clark County commissioners and La Center's city council in firing off a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs excoriating the study.

The BIA, as a result of this massive criticism, should order the study be taken back to the drawing board and done over, or at minimum appended with a supplemental report answering numerous crucial questions. Without those answers, casino promoters are whistling in the wind.

Such a stern edict from the BIA won't sit well with Analytical Environment Services of Sacramento, Calif., the Cowlitz-funded firm that prepared the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the BIA. But the edict is needed to answer key questions."

Get the Story:
Editorial: BIA: Demand Answers (The Columbian 7/18)