BOSTON—The controversial Wynn Resort in Everett, MA won a key state environmental approval on Friday that puts the $1.7-bilion casino project one step closer to breaking ground.

Matthew Beaton, secretary of energy and environmental affairs for The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, issued a 28-page letter on Friday detailing why he determined that the Second Supplemental Final Impact Report on the Wynn Resort “adequately and properly” complies with Massachusetts' environmental law.

One of the key areas of concern was the traffic impact the project could cause. Beaton stated that Wynn “has made significant commitments to minimize and mitigate traffic impacts. The Proponent (Wynn) has also agreed to provide an annual operating subsidy to the MBTA to mitigate impacts on the Orange Line. The subsidy will amount to approximately $7.4 million over a 15-yar period. This is an unprecedented commitment that acknowledges and addresses the project's impact on transit operations.”

Sec. Beaton in signing the certificate accepted the combined 10,000-plus page environmental report that details the environmental impact and planned remediation efforts associated with the 33-acre Wynn Resort. The approval completes a two-and-a-half year environmental approval process.

Wynn Resorts chairman Steve Wynn said in a prepared statement, “We are gratified at this critical moment that we have moved much closer to the realization of creating a destination, grand hotel in Massachusetts. The process has been meticulous and hard fought and undoubtedly will continue to be so. However, with the support of the Governor (Charlie Baker) and his administration, the process was open and fair.”

He continues, “At moments like this, there is certainly a feeling of gratification and forward movement. It lifts our spirits and energizes us to get on with the business of constructing our building and recruiting a remarkable staff. These challenges are familiar to us and in the execution of them, we experience great joy and satisfaction.”

Not everyone was pleased with the Secretary's ruling on the project's environmental impact. For example, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, who has been waging a war of words with Wynn and has challenged the Massachusetts Gaming Commission's 2014 selection of Wynn Resort's bid for a Category 1 gaming license, did not mince words.

In a statement, the mayor said, “"We will continue to fight for the best interests and public safety of the people of Charlestown—where the effects of the proposed casino would be enormous. Secretary Beaton's decision today could make it necessary to invest well over $175 million in Sullivan Square and Rutherford Avenue.”

The mayor says he will work with the Baker Administration and federal and state lawmakers “to ensure that adequate funding mechanisms are in place for a regional project of this magnitude. We will also coordinate with these partners to push for an accurate and expert-based transportation plan in order to fully understand and then mitigate this development's impacts on Boston's streets,” Mayor Walsh adds.

In May of this year, the City of Boston filed an amended complaint in its case against the gaming commission charging that the commission violated the state gaming laws in the award of the Class A license to an affiliate of Wynn Resorts of Las Vegas over a rival bid by Mohegan Sun for a $1.3-billion casino to be built in Revere, MA at Suffolk Downs. A hearing on the City of Boston's legal action against the commission is reportedly scheduled for Sept. 22.

Revere and Somerville have also filed suit challenging the gaming commission's selection of the Wynn project in Everett.

The Wynn Resort is planned as a five-star resort with more than 600 hotel rooms, high-end spa, retail, dining, ballroom and meeting space. The project will be built on a former Monsanto Chemical industrial site and is projected to create 4,000 construction jobs and 4,000 permanent jobs upon completion and provide approximately $260 million in annual tax revenue to the state. According to public documents, the resort will total more than 3 million square feet and will feature a total of 4,580 gaming positions.

In July Wynn Resorts announced that Requests for Proposals and solicitation of bids were issued for the first-phase of design and construction of the Wynn Resort in Everett. Requests were issued to qualified local firms for off-site roadway improvement design, environmental cleanup, building demolition design and site preparation and fencing. The combined value of the four contracts was approximately $50 million.