By George Brennan
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Posted Sep. 19, 2015 at 2:28 pm Updated at 2:32 PM

MASHPEE, Mass. – The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe will begin construction of its $500 million casino in Taunton this spring, tribe leaders said today.

The tribe learned Friday in a phone call and letter from Kevin Washburn, assistant secretary of Indian Affairs, that the U.S. Department of the Interior had accepted the tribe’s initial reservation application. The tribe’s land will be taken into federal trust giving the Mashpee Wampanoag sovereign authority over it.

It’s a gigantic step toward the tribe building a $500 million casino in Taunton where all the approvals are already in place with the city government. The tribe also has an agreement with the state, known as a compact, governing how much money for its gross gambling revenues will go to Bay State coffers.

Though opponents have already said they intend to sue, Arlinda Locklear, a tribe attorney, said federal officials will still take the land into trust. Even if opponents attempt to get a preliminary injunction, it’s not likely to succeed because they must show they’ll prevail, she said.

“That’s been tried in past and it’s never succeeded,” Locklear said.

Any suit would be defended by the U.S. Department of Justice, which has already been briefed by the Interior Department on the land application, she said. The tribe would also likely defend its application alongside the government, she said.

“The risk is low. We feel confident,” she said. “It’s well-reasoned record of decision. We feel confident about winning.”

On Friday, Elaine Driscoll, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, said the federal decision provides new information for commissioners to consider as they consider whether to license a casino in Southeastern Massachusetts, known as Region C. The lone bidder, Mass. Gaming & Entertainment in Brockton, has urged the commission to issue a license regardless of the tribal process.

But others, including Senate President Stanley Rosenberg in a statement Friday and Gov. Deval Patrick before he left office, believe that would hurt the state’s gambling industry. “I believe the (commission) has the responsibility to weigh the significant market oversaturation that would no doubt occur with multiple resort casinos in the southeastern region,” Rosenberg said in his prepared statement congratulating the tribe.

George Carney, a North Falmouth resident who owns the Brockton land that Mass. Gaming & Entertainment hopes to build on, said Saturday he’s hopeful the commission will grant a license. “Our position is it would be better if they hadn’t gotten the land,” he said. “With the competition we wouldn’t do as much, but the numbers still justify going forward with it.”

Carney said his partner, Neil Bluhm of Rush Street Gaming is all in, too. “The fellow I’m involved with is putting up $650 million he doesn’t seem to have any issue with it,” he said. “We’ve been pushing for license from day one knowing the Indians are out there.”

Carney, owner of Raynham Park, once negotiated with the tribe before they settled on Taunton. He said he has no regrets about not selling the land to the tribe. “If I make a decision I never look back,” Carney said.

Land has always been a hurdle for the tribe to overcome and one that their opponents always counted on them being unable to reach. In 2009, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, known as the Carcieri decision, called into question the Interior Department’s authority to take land in trust for tribes recognized after 1934, the year of the Indian Reorganization Act. With the help of tribal historians, the Wampanoag pieced together the historical mosaic that passed muster with federal authorities showing ties to the Pokanokets, which eventually became Wampanoag Nation.

Tribe plans are centered on an industrial park in East Taunton where they intend to build two hotels and water park along with the casino. Arkana Ltd, a Malaysian casino investor with ties to the Genting Group, has backed the tribe’s efforts.