The 5.5-million-sf office, residential and retail project, on an underutilized rail and industrial site near the Charles River, is being developed by Pan Am Systems Inc. of New Hampshire. Boston's Jones Lang LaSalle office is serving as the development manager on the project. Officials with the developer declined to comment when contacted by Globe St.com and an attorney for the project did not return calls in time. A DEP spokesman tells GlobeSt.com that the department would review the decision. "It has been remanded to us and we'll be trying to address it appropriately as we do the reviews," the spokesman says.

Vivien Li, executive director of the Boston Harbor Association, tells GlobeSt.com that the ruling could have "tremendous ramifications" for developers along the state's shoreline, even if construction, like the North Point project, does not abut wetlands.

"I think we're going to look much more carefully at other developments along waterfront, particularly along the South Boston waterfront," says Li. "For [developers] who thought they were not covered under the regulations because they were land-locked, this can have tremendous ramifications."