AUGUSTA – An environmental group and some residents of Oxford are appealing the decision by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to issue permits for a casino to be built in the western Maine town.
The Androscoggin River Alliance and 18 residents filed the appeal Wednesday with the state Board of Environmental Protection. The group wants the board to reverse the approval issued last month and assume jurisdiction over the project.
Its 24-page appeal contends that state regulators “rushed” to approve to the project while lacking data on how the project would affect water supplies in the area. The appeal also says the applicant did a vernal pool study in August, rather than in the spring, when vernal pools can be identified.
The appeal also alleges that the casino project may harm wells, ponds, streams and wetlands, and that sewage may pollute groundwater.
The group’s attorney, Steve Hinchman, said the developer, Black Bear Entertainment, hasn’t shown it has the financial capacity to provide necessary water supplies and protect the environment, yet the LePage administration appeared determine to approve the project.
“Nothing was going to stop them from issuing this permit,” he said in an interview.
He said the DEP may lack authority to issue a wastewater discharge permit for the project because its commissioner, Darryl Brown, owns Main-Land Development Consultants, the lead engineering consulting firm for the project.
In a separate case, the Androscoggin River Alliance has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to investigate Brown’s appointment as DEP commissioner in January. It charges that, as owner of Main-Land Development Consultants, Brown has a conflict of interest and is ineligible for the post under Clean Water Act guidelines.
Samantha DePoy-Warren, a spokeswoman for the DEP, said in a prepared statement that she is disappointed that Hinchman’s “endless personal attacks” against Brown are now being used in an effort to stop a $164 million project that will employ hundreds of Mainers.
She said Brown has never been involved in any decisions related to the casino project. She said the department is confident that an examination by the Board of Environmental Protection will reinforce the “thoroughness and thoughtfulness” of its review of the project’s application.
An appeal does not stay DEP permits, so work at the casino site can continue legally. Black Bear Entertainment has 30 days to submit its written reply to the appeal.
The permits are for the first phase of the project, which calls for a 65,000-square-foot casino, a buffet area and a lounge.
One of the investors in Black Bear Entertainment, Robert Lally, said the casino will be open next spring. The site, on Route 26 near Rabbit Valley Road, is being cleared and bids for excavation work are expected to be received on Friday.
He said the group took great care in preparing its application and held public meetings about its plans.
“We did a belt-and-suspenders job on the application,” he said.
“We knew we would be scrutinized. I guess we wanted to make sure that we did what we could to withstand any challenges such as this.”
MaineToday Media State House Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 699-6261 or at:
tbell@mainetoday.com
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