13 marine businesses sue FEC, Coast Guard, Army Corps over Brightline, Stuart drawbridge

Ed Killer, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·4 min read
2

A group of Martin County marine business leaders filed a lawsuit in federal court Friday afternoon demanding changes in the regulation schedule planned for the railroad bridge over the St. Lucie River in Stuart.

The lawsuit, filed by Cohen and Seglias Law Firm in Philadelphia, is suing the Florida East Coast Railway, the Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers on behalf of 13 plaintiffs.

More plaintiffs are expected to and encouraged to join the lawsuit as sales and property values decline, said Joe Walsh, owner of Indiantown Marine Center, one of the suit's plaintiffs.

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Who is suing FEC, Army Corps, Coast Guard over Brightline?

A Brightline train can be seen crossing the St. Lucie River railroad bridge in February 2023.
A Brightline train can be seen crossing the St. Lucie River railroad bridge in February 2023.

Marine business leaders fear the Coast Guard will grant Brightline's request calling for the railroad drawbridge to be in the down position for up to 45 minutes every hour. That would allow boat traffic just 15 minutes per hour to travel through the bridge channel.

Brightline told the Coast Guard it needs the closure to allow for the passage of up to 32 passenger trains, added to as many as 24 freight trains per day. The length and frequency of closures could cost marine interests in Martin and St. Lucie counties millions of dollars in lost revenue each year, the lawsuit says.

The 13 plaintiffs include:

  • Indiantown Marine Center, LLC

  • Indiantown Marina, Inc.

  • Willis Custom Yachts, LLC.

  • MarineMax, Inc.

  • Mobro Marine, Inc.

  • Ferreira Construction Co., Inc.

  • McCulley Marine Services, Inc.

  • Beyel Brothers, Inc.

  • DL Milling Family, LLC

  • Atlantic & Gulf Dredging & Marine, LLC

  • AC Meridian Marine, LLC

  • HMY Yacht Sales, Inc.

  • Simply Yachts, LLC

More plaintiffs could join the lawsuit, Michael Payne, attorney with Cohen and Seglias told TCPalm.

The marine businesses seek an injunction in how Florida East Coast Railway plans to allow Brightline, a passenger train planning service from Miami to Orlando and expected to begin operating through the Treasure Coast in June, to close the bridge for 32 crossings a day between the hours of 5 a.m. and 9:45 p.m.

The lawsuit is asking the court to declare it unlawful for the FEC Railway to obstruct free navigation of the St. Lucie River, which is also a federal channel known as the Okeechobee Waterway. The plaintiffs say changing the way the bridge is presently operated, it will obstruct the waterway since no boat with more than 6 feet of vertical clearance can pass through the area. Many of the businesses in the lawsuit either repair, build or sell large boats.

Mast, Rubio support lawsuit to stop Brightline

Boat traffic travels through the open railroad bridge (left) and the Old Roosevelt draw bridge in the St. Lucie River on Monday, July 25, 2022, in Stuart. For more than an hour boaters protested for keeping he 100-year-old railroad drawbridge open for 30 minutes of every hour of future Brightline train traffic.
Boat traffic travels through the open railroad bridge (left) and the Old Roosevelt draw bridge in the St. Lucie River on Monday, July 25, 2022, in Stuart. For more than an hour boaters protested for keeping he 100-year-old railroad drawbridge open for 30 minutes of every hour of future Brightline train traffic.

U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fort Pierce, questioned Coast Guard Adm. Linda Fagan April 21 during a U.S. House Coast Guard and Maritime Subcommittee meeting in Washington, D.C. Mast has long worried that if the Coast Guard grants Brightline's wish, the bridge could be in the down position for as long as 90 minutes if the two 45-minute periods were back to back.

“Over a 15-hour window of the day ... they’re closing off the waterway 9½ hours of the day out of 15 hours. Is that equitable to the community whose resource that is?” Mast asked Fagan.

Mast and U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio have expressed support for the lawsuit, according to Walsh. The business leaders should not expect support from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, however.

In 2014, Scott pledged $215 million of state taxpayer funds to build a train station at Orlando International Airport, according to an Orlando Sentinel story. It was later revealed a Scott ex-staffer worked for the train company at the time, according to a 2014 Naples Daily News story. It was reported that Scott and his wife had invested in Fortress Investment Group, which is the parent company of the rail company that operates Brightline, and made $150,000 in income from the investment, according to 2018 articles by the Miami Herald and Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Stuart drawbridge over the St. Lucie River

Cars line up as a Brightline train prepares to pass through the intersection of SE Walton Road near Savannas Preserve State Park, during a test reaching speeds of 110 mph on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022.
Cars line up as a Brightline train prepares to pass through the intersection of SE Walton Road near Savannas Preserve State Park, during a test reaching speeds of 110 mph on Friday, Oct. 21, 2022.

The lawsuit was not filed to address the work schedule requiring the drawbridge to be in the down position May 1 to May 22 for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No boats requiring more than 6 feet of vertical clearance will be able to pass beneath the bridge during that time.

After the full-time closure, the bridge will be in the down position from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily from May 22 to May 27. Text "STL" to 888-384-0037 for updates.

Ed Killer is a columnist with TCPalm. Email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: FEC, Army Corps, Coast Guard sued over Brightline, Stuart drawbridge