Mohawk Casino is Environmentally Sound

by: Bill Liblick

The so-called environmentalists who filed a lawsuit to block the St. Regis Mohawk Gaming Casino at Monticello Raceway should be ashamed of themselves 

I am surprised they are not claiming that the casino will also accelerate Global Warming if it is constructed.

Enough is enough already with all this baloney.

Now that Governor Eliot Spitzer and the St. Regis Mohawks have reached a magnificent deal to bring the $600 million Indian Casino to Monticello Raceway this gibberish must end.

This coalition of anti-gaming people is wrongfully using the environment to further their cause. They are a disgrace to all of us by asking a Federal judge to stop the process, and force a more comprehensive environmental impact study.

Come on, who out there really believes that they are concerned with the environmental impact the St. Regis Mohawk Casino would have on Sullivan and Orange Counties. None of us are fools - we all know what their real motives and agendas are.

The fact is the Federal Government did take a hard look at the St. Regis Mohawk casino. Every resident in Sullivan County must denounce the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sullivan County Farm Bureau, Catskill Center for Conservation, and Orange Environment for their eccentric and extreme claims about the casino.

The Sullivan County Farm Bureau knows quite well that casinos would not pose a negative impact on them. If anything it would create business for our local farmers. Are these people really speaking for our farmers.

Edelstein, president of Orange Environment has called the construction of a possible casino a “life-or-death issue for Orange County.” Edelstein claims that a casino at the racetrack, along with Bethel Woods Center for the Performing Arts and all the future development planned for Sullivan and Orange counties, will pose traffic jams, accidents, and worsen our air quality.

Oh please with the garbage. The only pollution here is what is coming out of the mouths of these people who claim they are dedicated to saving the atmosphere.

Wake up already. Smell the fresh air a casino will bring us.

The fact is a casino at Monticello Raceway is environmentally sound. No trees will be cut down, and its location is easily accessible from the highway.

What about when Sullivan County was the home to hundreds of resort hotels and bungalow colonies? How did these people get to the Concord, Grossinger’s, Pines and Brown’s Hotels? Did a genie magically place them there? No - they arrived there by less fuel efficient, less environmentally sound vehicles. That is how they got there.

In fact, people generally arrived at our famed borshet belt hotels at the same time and left at the same time. A casino will be far different, there will be no set timeframes.

Instead of supporting all the positive affects casinos will bring, these people want to ruin it for all of us. Who do they think they are to dictate what they feel is environmentally right or wrong?  The Federal Government has already spoken on the issue. They had their chance to be heard. They didn’t like the outcome, so now they are taking their sour grapes to the courts.

Let us all understand that the Federal Government approved a proposed Casino at Monticello Raceway not once but twice. That means that there were two extensive environmental studies, one in 2000 and one in 2006 considered on the project. 

If this so called coalition felt there was such a problem with the atmosphere, a lawsuit should have been filed six years ago, not now, after the Bureau of Indian Affairs once again gives its seal of approval on the construction of a gaming facility at Monticello Raceway.

The sad part is that these people have now lost all their credibility when it comes to environmental issues. Because of their outlandish actions with this one issue, who could ever trust them if there were a real environment issue in the Mid Hudson Valley?

Look - the time has come for a Casino for Sullivan County. These anti-gaming people must stop grasping at straws!

Despite what the “Nay Sayers” to casinos might want you to believe, it will be a win win situation for all of us.

We all have to start to look at the real picture.

People enjoy legalized gaming as a recreation. Once casinos come here, our economy will be stimulated, and we will experience growth like never before imagined.

The benefit for all of us will be far more reaching than just a visible gaming casino. Over 3,000 jobs will be created. High-end retail stores, five star hotels, renowned spas, gourmet restaurants, and entertainment that only places like Las Vegas can deliver will all become part of our new landscape

Casinos are environmentally sound for Sullivan County, and even those who filed this lawsuit know it.

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