Wynn receives approval for Boston Harbor Project
Wynn Resorts has received a boost to its Wynn Everett casino resort project plans in Boston, as a hearing officer for the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) ruled in its favour in a dispute with the City of Somerville.
US.- Somerville contested the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) decision to grant Wynn Resorts a waterfront development permit, as the resort is set to be built on the front of the Mystic River in Eastern Massachusetts.
This led Wynn Resorts to postpone the construction of the resort, and Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone appealed on the grounds that the resort would have negative environmental impacts.
Jane Rothchild, a hearing officer for Massachusetts’ Department of Environmental Protection, came out with a 50-page decision that backed Wynn’s plans for the casino resort, in which she said: “One does not need to be a casino enthusiast to recognise and acknowledge the benefit that accrues to a city when a long-dormant contaminated waste site is cleaned up and brought back to useful life.”
DEP Commissioner Martin Suuberg will make the final decision on whether the company could go on with its plans. Rothchild’s recommendation, however, could clear the way for them to start building again.
Wynn Resorts was granted a licence for this project in 2014 after the Massachusetts Gaming Commission voted 3-1 in favour of the operator ahead of Mohegan Sun, with Wynn Resorts agreeing to IS$76m in payments.
The project previously faced opposition from the City of Boston, which alleged that state police gave private detectives acting for Wynn Resorts access to information regarding an ongoing criminal investigation and asked a judge to revoke the licence.
A Surrounding Community Agreement was signed between the City of Boston and Wynn Resorts in January however, including US$68m being paid in mitigation funds and US$20m being paid annually for local businesses over 15 years. Mohegan Sun has also appealed against the granting of the licence.
