By Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

The debate around casinos in Massachusetts has moved beyond whether to allow them. The voters have spoken, and agree or disagree—and everyone knows that I disagree—casinos are a reality in the Commonwealth. But the issues we must now resolve as plans are developed are just as urgent and critical to every community in the region. Most importantly, we must make sure that these projects follow the law and that the overseeing agencies take the time, do the work, and make sure that these locations work not only for the cities and towns that will host or be neighbors to the casinos, but for the entire region. Unfortunately, it appears that we are still not examining the potential impacts closely enough, and our environment, our health and our economy will suffer if we do not.

One law the casinos must be held to is environmental review, and I’m encouraged that the State is taking action on this. After the MBTA sold land to Wynn MA, LLC to use as the main entrance to its casino—thus enabling Wynn to purportedly avoid using any City of Boston land to access the site—Sec. Matthew Beaton of the state Office of Energy and Environment Affairs declined to issue Wynn an environmental review certificate of compliance with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). Sec. Beaton pointed out that the sale took place before the environmental review was completed, thus violating state law. Sec. Beaton’s action is a start, but it shouldn’t have come to this. That the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s decision to award a gaming license was made prior to the completion of the environmental review process is not only inconsistent with law, but undermines the very purpose of a review and analysis of such impacts.

Traffic mitigation is another concern. What we continue to see throughout this process, and what has not changed since Wynn’s plans were first unveiled, is that their approach to traffic mitigation is focused on one goal. That goal is to attempt to create as much capacity as possible to get as many cars onto the casino property as possible. It’s a very narrow, shortsighted approach (much like the entire concept of expanded gambling is to begin with) that lacks a full understanding of the impact that traffic and congestion will have on the environment, our health, our life quality and our economy.

Wynn took a pass on addressing the impact of traffic on the region in the environmental impact report it filed. Sec. Beaton pointed this out in his written response earlier this month that required Wynn to file a further environmental impact report, but even his important response did not go far enough. He pointed to intersections near the proposed casino site that should be reevaluated before a permit is issued. Not one of those intersections is in Somerville. Meanwhile, Sullivan Square is the most direct roadway access to and from the proposed site of Wynn’s casino, and Washington Street, Mystic Avenue and Broadway all directly feed into Sullivan Square. So does Rutherford Avenue in Charlestown. I-93 is already inadequate in terms of capacity to handle the traffic that we see today. Not any of that is mentioned. That’s concerning.

We are already one of the most congested regions in the country. An exhaustive study by MIT and the University of California at Berkley pinpointed Everett as one of the worst neighborhoods in Greater Boston for traffic congestion, and any traffic engineer will tell you, a congestion problem in one city quickly causes ripple effects throughout the regional network. Somerville is an example of the consequences of that congestion. More than half of our residents live in environmental justice zones partly because of air pollution caused by cars. We have higher rates of cardiovascular and respiratory health problems. Regionally, Greater Boston has the fourth highest disparity when it comes to non-white people inhaling air pollution compared to white people, a University of Minnesota study found. Building more capacity for cars won’t alleviate that—it will instead cause even more congestion and pollution.

Meanwhile, our region is continuing to attract the industries that will be the foundation of the economy in the next century, like the life sciences, biotech and cleantech. We’re attracting them through investing in walkable, bikeable, transit-accessible neighborhoods. Transit-oriented development like that at Assembly Square is boosting the Massachusetts economy, creating jobs, new homes and new revenue. Unmitigated casino congestion would make it more difficult for people to walk or bike to work and public transportation. Building streets designed to funnel as many cars as possible to a casino would leave buses stuck in traffic and the Sullivan Square MBTA Station increasingly cut off by car traffic. This would have a serious impact on our economy and our ability to attract and retain those next-generation industries.

Nothing in what Steve Wynn has proposed in his gambling project across the river, or what the Gaming Commission has investigated, or what we have seen so far through environmental review gives us any comfort that those in charge of this process are looking out for the impacts of this project on the environment, our health, or our economy, not just for Somerville but the region. The approach cannot and should not be the best on- and off-ramp to Wynn’s site. We need a comprehensive commitment to managing the full impact of the casinos on our region. And until we know those in charge are striving for that, the work of the community and the public is not done here.