DEP processing casino permit

OXFORD — Maine's Department of Environmental Protection has begun reprocessing the development application filed by the Oxford Casino developers in 2010, according to DEP spokeswomen Samantha DePoy-Warren.

In July a Maine Superior Court judge nullified a development permit issued to the casino by the Maine Board of Environmental Protection.

The judge said that the BEP violated its own permitting rules and remanded the permit back to the DEP for reconsideration.

"The Department is committed to complying with the remand in a thorough and thoughtful manner, and is working with the applicant to ensure this happens in an appropriately timely manner," said DePoy-Warren in an e-mail.

The Androscoggin River Alliance and 18 Oxford residents filed an appeal to the permit last April, arguing that the casino developers had not provided the BEP with an environmental impact analysis for all phases of the planned development.

According to reports, John Hinchman, the Alliance attorney, claimed that without a valid permit in place, the casino would be forced to close.

DePoy-Warren says that, because the casino developers have pursued the project in good faith, no environmental degradation has been found and no one has sought a stay of the construction, DEP will not pursue closure.

"Our Department has no intention to pursue any closing of the casino, nor would past precedent indicate it would be appropriate to do so," DePoy-Warren said.