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High court brings 13th Coast casino a step closer
By JOEY BUNCH
THE SUN HERALD
JACKSON - The Mississippi Supreme Court removed the latest of many obstacles for what could become the 13th Coast casino. A decision handed down Thursday upholds the state Commission on Marine Resources' 1996 permit for a casino on St. Louis Bay.Justices rejected the appeal of a confederation of environmentalists and citizens' groups, who claimed that the development would destroy vital wetlands.Casino World plans to build a $400 million themed, destination resort, golf course and major hotel at its 404-acre site immediately south of Interstate 10 at Diamondhead.Last summer, a federal judge said the company must get an environmental impact statement, or EIS, to assess the potential effect on wetlands and aquatic life."We're in great shape now," Deborah Vitale, president of Casino World's parent company, Europa Cruises Corp., said Thursday. She said the company would soon submit the names of three environmental consulting firms so the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could select one to perform the EIS.The EIS could take up to two years to complete. Federal regulators will review it and decide whether to issue permits for the casino.The time frame is fine, said Vitale, because the company must solicit investors for the project. Opponents will move the fight from state court to the federal regulatory agencies overseeing the EIS, said Noni DeBardeleben, a member of the Gulf Islands Conservancy Inc. and Concerned Citizens to Protect the Isles and Point. Those were two of the groups that appealed the 1996 permit to the Supreme Court.Opponents think the EIS will prevent the casino from getting dredging permits from the corps because it would harm the vitality of the wetlands."Until they get the EIS done and they get a permit from the corps, they can't go forward on anything," said DeBardeleben.Residents and environmental groups urged the courts to throw out the permit because it did not include a dredging permit or force the proposed casino barge to meet a 6-foot draft requirement in state law. The Supreme Court said authority over the casino barge rested with the state Gaming Commission, which gave Casino World site approval in 1995.The Supreme Court declined to force the Gaming Commission to reconsider its approval, because state law allowed only 20 days to appeal a Gaming Commission decision. Casino World opponents waited almost two years to raise formal opposition, according to the high court.Joey Bunch can be reached at 896-2367 or jbunch@sunherald.com. |
