• 25-APR-2016

Wynn Receives Final Approval of Section 61 Environmental Findings

EVERETT, MA — April 25, 2016 — Wynn Boston Harbor received its final and most comprehensive major state environmental approval in the project's three-year development history today when the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) voted to accept the $2 billion resort’s Section 61 environmental report.

The MGC approval was the concluding analysis of more than three years of cumulative studies that covered more than 20 detailed environmental and traffic plans. It follows the recent approval of Wynn’s Section 61 findings by all relevant individual state agencies, including:
  • MassDOT
  • Department of Conservation and Recreation
  • Department of Environmental Protection
  • MassPort
  • Massachusetts Water Resource Authority
“The MGC’s final approval marks the successful conclusion of the most detailed, thoroughly analyzed and publicly scrutinized environmental study of any private development in the history of the Commonwealth,” said Robert DeSalvio, president of Wynn Boston Harbor. “With the exception of some specialized permits, every applicable state agency has now vetted and approved our mitigation commitments and cleared the way for us to begin construction.”

The information that informed Wynn’s Section 61 report totaled more than 10,000 pages and was meticulously reviewed over a three-year span by three federal agencies, 12 state agencies, 14 municipalities, 20 local organizations and thousands of residents at multiple public meetings. Responses to more than 275 letters and 1,500 comments from agencies, elected officials, municipalities, organizations and individuals were also considered in the process that led up the Section 61 findings.

With all Section 61 approvals now in place for Wynn Boston Harbor, the only significant barrier to the start of construction and the employment of 4,000 union construction workers is Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone’s ongoing appeal of Wynn’s Chapter 91 license by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The hearing for Somerville’s appeal of the DEP’s written determination is scheduled for early June.

NOTE: Section 61 refers to the section of the General Laws of Massachusetts that states “all state agencies, departments, boards, commissions and authorities of the Commonwealth shall review, evaluate, and determine the impact on the natural environment of all works, projects or activities conducted by them and shall use all practicable means and measures to minimize damages to the environment.”