The former assistant secretary of the Air Force, Terry Yonkers, last week said that the casino proposed by the Spokane Tribe of Indians near Fairchild Air Force Base in Washington State would cause “insignificant disruption,” to the base.
This is a blow to opponents of the casino, who have argued that the proposed casino might cause the Air Force to close the base if it is built.
The statement was read to Spokane City Council meeting on February 24, and after it was read the council voted to withdraw a previously passed opposition to the casino.
Yonkers wrote that he was “initially alarmed,” when told about the tribe’s proposal to build a 14 story casino resort hotel near the flight track of the base. However, his staff informed him that the proposed complex “was completely outside the accident potential zones and clear zones that had been established by the official Air Force AICUZ (Air Installation Compatible Use Zone) analysis.”
The base’s wing commander told him that risks were low and would present an, “insignificant disruption” to the base’s mission.
Yonkers’ letter concluded, “I don’t know what has changed since I retired as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force on March 1, 2013, but when I left the building the official Air Force position had not changed.”
