MGM GRAND DETROIT AIR IS 100 PERCENT OUTDOOR AIR INSIDE ITS CASINO
MGM Grand Detroit is consistently 40 Percent below EPA Allowable Levels
DETROIT – Tuesday, July 14, 2009 – MGM Grand Detroit Director of Engineering Jeffery Jackson refuted wild claims made by an anti-smoking organization that described the quality of air in its Detroit casinos as being “unhealthy.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ASHRAE Standards requires carbon monoxide levels to be below 1,000 ppm (particulates per million). MGM Grand Detroit gaming floor is maintained at 600 ppm, 40 percent healthier than EPA standards. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) measures toxins such as paints, burns and smoke. MGM Grand Detroit is VOC at 6 percent, which is considered low by EPA standards.
“MGM Grand Detroit has the single most sophisticated air filtration system in the country, which uses 100 percent make-up air that is rotated from outdoors,” said Jackson. “That means that the air people breathe outside of MGM Grand Detroit, is the same air they breathe inside of MGM Grand Detroit.”
When MGM Grand Detroit built its $800 million casino in downtown Detroit, it spared no cost for air filtration. Tens of millions of dollars were spent to purchase the Tridium System, which is a hybrid of Limbach and Trane, the leading air filtration system manufacturers and installers in the industry.
The Tridum recycles air from the casino floor 16 times per hour, rotating it with 100 percent outdoor air. The Tridum also offers real-time monitoring which allows MGM Grand Detroit engineering to determine the levels of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and levels of particulate matter at any given time. MGM Grand Detroit also employ “air curtains” that are positioned on table games which protects dealers and table game employees from taking in second hand smoke.
“I can’t even imagine how they would have gotten such a device beyond security in order to conduct any tests at a casino,” Jackson said. “However, if a study is claiming that MGM Grand Detroit’s air quality is eight times more polluted than outdoor air, then one would have to question its credibility and motive.”
Juliette Okotie-Eboh, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at MGM Grand Detroit, described the study as a disingenuous attempt to influence lawmakers to target Detroit’s three casinos in their consideration of pending anti-smoking legislation.
“MGM Grand Detroit takes the health of its employees and customers very seriously, and spared no expense in protecting them from second hand smoke,” she said. “However, there are 22 casinos in Michigan that host and employ Michigan residents, of which the 19 casinos outside of Detroit remain unprotected from this study.”
Okotie-Eboh said that by including Detroit’s three casinos in an all-inclusive ban, the legislature would not only nullify the tens of millions of dollars invested in the air filtration system by MGM Grand Detroit, it would also create an unfair advantage for the 19 tribal casinos that will not be impacted.
In March of this year, MGM Grand Detroit President and Chief Operating Officer, Lorenzo Creighton was joined by representatives from the other two Detroit casinos to testify before the House Regulatory and Reform Committee. He informed members about the potential negative fiscal impacts of an all inclusive ban. Creighton presented national case studies that showed every state that has enacted such a ban has experienced anywhere between an 11 to 22 percent revenue loss. The declines translated into lost gaming tax revenue in Illinois, Colorado, and Washington D.C. Atlantic City, NJ enacted an all inclusive ban last year and reversed the decision seven days later due to a 19 percent loss of gaming revenue taxes in that short window. The former Casino Windsor went smoke free in 2006 and experienced a 25 percent revenue loss for that same year, despite the fact that Canada had more favorable exchange rates.
In Detroit, a 20 percent reduction in casino revenue at among Detroit’s casinos would result in an immediate $32 million loss to the state’s school aid fund. Also, it would result in a loss of $35.7 million to the city, and $22 million to the state in gaming revenue taxes paid by Detroit’s casinos. It is estimated that such a loss in Detroit would lead to approximately 1,200 layoffs from its three casinos.
“Every single state that has enacted an all inclusive ban has experienced revenue loss that they have struggled to make up,” said Okotie-Eboh. “With this information - facing a significant budget deficit here in Michigan – one would assume that every public policy debate should avoid potential negative fiscal implications.”
In May, the House passed HB 4377, which included exemptions for Detroit’s casino floors and cigar bars. It was referred to the Senate Government Operations and Reform Committee.
About MGM Grand Detroit
Awarded the 2009 Mobil Four-Star Award by Mobil Travel Guide and AAA’s prestigious Four-Diamond rating, MGM Grand Detroit is the city’s first and only downtown hotel, gaming, and entertainment destination built from the ground up. The hotel features 400 chic and stylish guest rooms, including nine rooftop VIP suites and 56 opulent corner suites. Guests can enjoy three signature restaurants by two of the world’s preeminent celebrity chefs: Wolfgang Puck and Michael Mina; in-room dining by Puck in addition to casual restaurants; lounges, including a relaxed piano-style bar; high-energy nightlife; the only resort-style spa in southeast Michigan; and 30,000-square-feet of meeting space capable of hosting everything from large corporate events to intimate black-tie engagements.
MGM MIRAGE (NYSE: MGM), one of the world's leading and most respected companies with significant holdings in gaming, hospitality and entertainment, owns and operates 16 properties located in Nevada, Mississippi and Michigan, and has 50% investments in four other properties in Nevada, New Jersey, Illinois and Macau. CityCenter, an unprecedented urban metropolis on the Las Vegas Strip scheduled to open in late 2009, is a joint venture between MGM MIRAGE and Infinity World Development Corp, a subsidiary of Dubai World. MGM MIRAGE Hospitality has entered into management agreements for future casino and non-casino resorts in the People's Republic of China, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. and Vietnam. MGM MIRAGE supports responsible gaming and has implemented the American Gaming Association's Code of Conduct for Responsible Gaming at its properties. MGM MIRAGE has received numerous awards and recognitions for its industry-leading Diversity Initiative and its community philanthropy programs. For more information about MGM MIRAGE, please visit the Company's Web site at http://www.mgmmirage.com.
# # #
For more information regarding the MGM Grand Detroit or this release, contact:
Jamaine Dickens, Commerce Communications Group, Inc.
313.640.1801
jdickens@theccgroup.net
|
