Clark County, Washington has demanded that the Cowlitz Indian Tribe cease building on the 152 acres near La Center where the tribe plans to build a 0 million casino.
County Board of Councilors Chairman Marc Boldt February 26 sent a cease and desist letter to tribal Chairman Bill Iyall, along with a stop work order. The order was tacked up at the work site.
The tribe February 14 held a groundbreaking on the project that is due for completion in the summer of 2017.
Ironically, what’s under the ground, or rather what the tribe plans to inject underground, is the cause of the county’s umbrage. According to the letter, “The county understands that the tribe is currently in discussions with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for approval to inject hundreds of thousands of gallons of wastewater into the ground at the proposed Cowlitz gaming facility site.
Whatever the outcome of these discussions, Ordinance 07-02 does not authorize that proposed discharge unless and until it complies with applicable county code provisions. The county has a responsibility to protect the environment and public health of all its citizens and the county insists that the tribe abide by its own ordinance on this important issue.”
It adds, “The county is troubled that the tribe has not discussed this proposed discharge with the county . . .”
Iyall told the Centralia Chronicle that the tribe has no intention to stop the work and added, “I don’t believe they have jurisdiction.’’ The Bureau of Indian Affairs recently put the land into trust as reservation land. “Without jurisdiction, I think they are stretching it.’’
Iyall said the tribe is working with the Environmental Protection Agency on the groundwater issue. He claimed, “They’re trying to usurp the EPA’s jurisdiction, if that’s what they’re talking about. It’s the EPA’s jurisdiction, something they (county officials) have no authority over. Again, it’s on our reservation.’’
The tribe’s dispute with the county goes back to December 2011, when the tribe reached a $14 million sewer agreement with the city of La Center, an agreement that fell apart when the state ruled that the city wasn’t allowed to extend sewer lines out of its boundary to the casino because it would violate the county’s planning regulations.
Late last month the tribe and the city reached an agreement with the tribe where the tribe agreed to a $32 million renovation of an exchange at Interstate 5. As part of the deal the Cowlitz tribe agreed to pay for a sewer extension from a city treatment plant to the edge of the city’s limits. The tribe will pay to extend dry sewer lines to those lines, but without hooking up to them.
The county points out that the tribe adopted a tribal ordinance entitled: “Environment, Public Health and Safety Protections for the Construction and Operation of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe Gaming Facility.” The tribe adopted this ordinance in 2004. It requires the tribe to comply with county development codes and to not allow public use of the casino until the sewer meets state and federal standards.
In the ordinance, which was approved by the National Indian Gaming Commission, the tribe included a limited waiver of sovereign immunity that enabled the County to sue if the tribe didn’t honor its agreement.
The county maintains that the proposed injection well system would violate county regulations. The project would inject nearly half a million gallons a day of treated water into the ground. An aquifer that serves the great majority of county residents lies very close to where the treated water will be injected.
The tribe prefers to connect to the La Center sewer, but the fact that the reservation isn’t within the city’s boundary has prompted the courts to prevent the hook-up.
Boldt concedes that the county’s demands are unlikely to have any effect since it has no way to enforce them. He told the Chronicle, “We’ve been asking questions and really haven’t had any good communication with them. We can’t get anything out of them. It could be a little drastic but I think it’s going to get us what we want.”
Recently the county board added two new members, which led Iyall to express optimism about the tribal/county relations. “I’m hoping things can be turned around with the new councilors,’’ he said. “We’re hoping for better relations with the county and I think that’s highly possible. I think there is a new political climate.’’
Iyall sees the latest efforts by the county as just one in a series of attempts by opponents of the casino, led by area card rooms, to stop or delay it. “I think the bottom line is they need to stop opposing the tribe every chance they get,” he said. “It is dumbfounding to see this continuous effort by the card rooms come between a positive relationship between the tribe and the county. I think the county has a role—but it’s as a partner, not as an opponent.”
