Kansas County Sues To Block Oklahoma Casino
Environmentalism is the new tool of the anti-casino crowd, and Cherokee County in Kansas is the latest to use it. In an attempt to slow or prevent construction of an Indian casino on the state's border with Oklahoma, the county commission voted to sue the Department of the Interior, saying approval for the casino was given without proper environmental studies being done.
The Quapaw Tribe will build its Downtown Casino Resort in Oklahoma, but the project is literally on the Kansas border, so much so that the parking lot will be on Kansas soil. The casino is slated to open this summer.
It is ironic that the Interior Department is named as defendant in the suit, as the policies of Secretary Kempthorne and his assistant, Carl Artman, have led to many casino denials, often for dubious reasons. Artman has signed off on the Quapaw casino, stating that an environmental impact assessment was not required in these circumstances.
A Massachusetts Indian casino proposal has been recently threatened by the use of environmental concerns as a blocking procedure, as previously reported here.
The county's legal fees are being paid by Penn National Gaming, hardly a disinterested party. Penn is currently hoping to build a $295 million casino in Cherokee County in conjunction with the state of Kansas, if state requirements can be met.
As usual, the stated reasons for preventing a new casino seem to be made up for public and legal consumption, while the reality is that the only debate that ever matters in gambling and casino growth is over who will control the massive income derived from the casino. States, countries, corporations, and tribes may all argue against one another, but they are all for casinos... as long as they are the ones to profit.
