FROM USA TODAY:   National environmental organization names San Francisco one of "Top Ten places to save for endangered species" , specifically naming the Tiger Salamander.   Read the report

MUST READ:  Center for Biological Diversity slams NIGC on Tiger Salamander habitat.  Could derail casino construction plans! CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER!  Read STC101's March letter to the NIGC

The Final Environmental Impact Study (FEIS) prepared by the National Indian Gaming Commission for the Rohnert Park casino was released February 18, 2009, and the Record of Decision (ROD) rendered in October. 2010.  The FEIS and the ROD can be viewed online.  For a quick overview of the contempt that the federal government has shown the community with this document, take a look at Section 5.0 of the FEIS, "Mitigation Measures".  The proposed mitigations would be laughable if this weren't so serious a matter.

There will be no further public review of or revision to the FEIS or the ROD at this point, and in October of 2010, the National Indian Gaming Commission approved the management contract between Station Casinos and the FIGR.  

What happens now? 

Now we go to court.  This project can be still be stopped on environmental grounds, and after looking at the FEIS and the ROD, we are more convinced than ever that this is the case.  They did a sloppy job. 

It is critical that the FEIS be challenged to protect the community from the serious environmental impacts this project will create.  (Those of you who have been told that the FIGR will have to pay back the money advanced by Station Casinos, rest easy.  What you were told isn't quite true.  Only a portion of that money will have to be paid back if a casino is built. )
 

The clock is ticking on the FEIS.  Studies used in the Graton Rancheria EIS are only valid for three years after the release of the FEIS. Failure to properly address the issue of critical habitat for the California Tiger Salamander could result in another fatal flaw in the EIS, resulting in the court voiding all or part of the EIS.  This would mean that a new or a supplemental EIS would have to be done. If the issue of the critical habitat has not been adequately addressed by February 18, 2012, another Tiger Salamander study would be required.  This is a two year study that goes through two complete rainy seasons. 

A lawsuit against the FEIS would be in the courts for three to four years, at which point, all the studies used in the preparation of the EIS would be too old to use.
 
Some of you in our environmental community have been lied to by the casino promoters.  Some of you were told, for example, that there would be no wastewater discharge into the Laguna de Santa Rosa of the Russian River.  The ROD says there will be wastewater discharged into both. Because of a recent LAFCO ruling, the casino will not be able to hook up to Rohnert Park's sewer system.  That means an on-site seewage treatment plant that will use sprayfields and the Laguna to get of rid of up to 500,000 gallons of wastewater PER DAY. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

The contract is approved and the land is in trust.  Is it too late to do anything?  No, this casino can still be stopped with litigation.  Two lawsuits are planned, one to challenge the EIS and the other to challenge the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to remove land from California's sovereign control. 

Why do we have to go to court?  The only way to enforce NEPA is through the federal courts. The point of the Graton Rancheria NEPA study was always to get the casino built, not to look honestly at its impact on Sonoma County. We must go to the courts for relief, and this means another federal lawsuit.  We ask all of you, especially our environmental community, to pull together with us.   Now we can go to the court and ask for relief, and demand a real environmental review that reflects not only the spirit of NEPA, but the letter of the law as well.

Why was an environmental review conducted?   An EIS is required whenever a federal agency is planning an action that has the potential to significantly affect the quality of the human environment.   As a federal agency, the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) was required to conduct an environmental review under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) because it was contemplating action, the approval of a management contract between Graton and Station Casinos, that would result in the building of a casino.