Following a decision that brings a large-scale casino one step closer to Sonoma County, opponents of the Rohnert Park casino proposal say that they will soon file additional lawsuits to try to block the casino on environmental and land-use grounds.

“It will be an environmental disaster and we think the environmental impact statement is vitally flawed,” said Chip Worthington, a leader of Stop the Casino 101 Coalition, adding that the project will have devastating impacts on the water supply, sewers, and endangered species.

“All of those are grounds for a lawsuit,” he said.

On Oct. 1, federal officials from the Department of the Interior removed the land from county jurisdiction and took it into federal trust — a major step in the Graton tribe's plans to build a casino on the 254 acre site. The casino has been a hot-button issue in the past decade, with the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria saying that the casino would bring jobs and revenue to the county and opponents saying that environmental impacts and traffic that would be created are unacceptable.

The Stop the Casino 101 group also filed a lawsuit in 2008 claiming that the state had authority over the land. The group lost the argument, and a subsequent appeal was rejected in June.

The next step for the tribe is to negotiate a compact with the governor and legislature. The talks would likely occur after the November election, and tribal representatives are now reaching out to gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman. The National Indian Gaming Commission must also certify the land before the compact negotiations can move forward.

“The fact that we were able to hold this off until the next administration is a victory in itself because we know the current governor was going to give away the store,” said Assemblymember Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, a strong opponent of the casino. “Whoever is the next governor will be able to take a fresh look at this.”

Worthington said that Stop the Casino 101 will file the lawsuits in the fall or winter, and is on a “major fund-raising campaign for legal fees.” The group plans to challenge the environmental documents of the plan on the grounds that they do not catalogue potential problems with flooding, water use, and endangered species. Another avenue for legal action is the designation of the land as a sovereign nation, he said.

“We maintain that this land is state land,” said Worthington.

Greg Sarris of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and Susan Moore of Friends of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

(Contact Philip Riley at philip.riley@arguscourier.com)