New information has surfaced that has prompted the Spokane County, Washington board of commissioners to request that the Bureau of Indian Affairs do another study on safety impacts on Fairchild Air Force Base before putting land for the Spokane Tribe into trust that would allow it to build a casino at Airway Heights, in the base’s flight path.
Information that came to light from a Freedom of Information Act request made the board send a letter to the BIA discussing an “accident potential zone” that may extend into the area where the casino is proposed, so that aircraft taking off and landing could fly over the casino.
The letter asks that the new study address, “outstanding questions regarding the safety of the Spokane Tribe’s proposed casino-resort project in Airway Heights.” The commission claims that the environmental impact statement that the BIA initially released did not address these factors.
The FOIA request uncovered a 2011 Department of Defense instruction that reads, “Where multiple flight tracks exist and significant numbers of aircraft operations are on multiple flight tracks, modifications may be made to create accident potential zones that conform to the multiple flight tracks.” The FOIA request also uncovered comments from the Air Force that the commission says show the flight patterns to be larger than previously indicated.
The commission has hired a Washington D.C.-based law firm to help it assemble a challenge to the casino. The commission is concerned at the possible disruption of the $1.3 billion that the base contributes to the local economy annually.
They don’t trust the study commissioned by the tribe and prepared by Madison Government Affairs, which found no cause for alarm.
The BIA is accepting comments on the proposal until May 1.
