Boston officials filed a new lawsuit against Wynn Resorts in a bid to prevent the gambling operator from building a $1.7-billion casino resort on the Everett waterfront.
The city challenged the validity of the crucial environmental permit the gaming company won late last month. Matthew Beaton, Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs, issued a 27-page statement in which he noted that Wynn Resorts had introduced an effective plan that would most definitely mitigate the negative effects its casino may have on Everett and Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood. The latter is located not far from the site of the gambling venue.
The new legal complaint comes almost a week after it became clear that Boston’s other lawsuit against the casino giant may eventually be dismissed. City officials have previously argued that Wynn Resorts being granted one of three state licenses for full-scale casinos was the result from a corrupt selection process.
A spokesperson for Boston’s administration confirmed that the city filed a 41-page complaint against the gambling operator in a Suffolk Superior Court arguing that the above-mentioned environmental permit should be invalidated.
According to Boston officials, Secretary Beaton and Wynn Resorts had failed to address important concerns on how the luxury hotel and casino resort would impact traffic in the Greater Boston area as well as in Boston’s Charlestown neighborhood, which has been facing serious traffic issues for quite some time now.
A spokesman for Wynn Resorts revealed that the company had not been sent the city’s complaint. He also pointed out that Boston’s legal attack is an unproductive way of engaging in a dialogue with the gambling operator and this would not be beneficial to residents of both Everett and Boston.
Last week, it became clear that Boston Mayor Martin Walsh met representatives for Wynn Resorts and that they made progress towards settling their dispute over the effects the gambling venue may have on the Charlestown neighborhood.
Although it looked like the two conflicting parties were possibly willing to bury the hatchet, the City of Boston filed its new legal complaint, claiming that the casino giant had failed to unveil how much exactly its property would impact local environment and to take due measures to avoid or at least mitigate those negative effects.
According to city officials, once fully operational, the casino would generate more than 20,000 automobile trips per day by both gambling customers and casino workers. A great number of those automobiles would pass through Sullivan Square, which has long been named one of the most dangerous and heavily congested set of roadways in the state.
It is important to mention that Boston is not the only city in the area that is currently suing Wynn Resorts. The neighboring City of Somerville also filed a legal complaint against both the gambling operator and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in a bid to prevent the establishment of the expensive casino resort. Somerville officials argued that once completed, the property would generate traffic that would flow into their city.
More information about the pending lawsuits is to be revealed in the weeks to come.
