Port cargo expansion has been a controversial issue in Fort Pierce for generations. But a letter from Senator Ken Pruitt (R-St. Lucie) to Governor Bush and the Cabinet may help protect the Indian River Lagoon fisheries from damages associated with cargo operations, and move the region’s economy in a cleaner, more progressive direction.

Lloyd Bell and Michael Ravelo have aggressively pursued a submerged lands lease from the state, to increase cargo operations at the 67-acre site owned by Bell in Fort Pierce. Bell has even gone so far as to threaten to sue anyone who opposes him. In August, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) had recommended to the Cabinet that the lease be approved, even though opponents maintain that the operations could severely degrade the seagrass meadows inside the inlet, and spread pollution up and down the Indian River Lagoon. They have asked Dr. Grant Gilmore, the foremost expert on Treasure Coast fishes and fish habitats, to provide consultation.

“Increased shipping activity is inherently incompatible with seagrass meadow health as demonstrated in other port ecosystems around Florida,” wrote Gilmore, noting also the near total extirpation of seagrass meadows inside the St. Lucie Inlet.

Independent scientists and the recreational fishing community contend that the loss of seagrass meadows in the St. Lucie and Indian River lagoons was largely caused by the discharges following the 2004 hurricanes.

Area fishing clubs and the Indian Riverkeeper also sent comment letters stating their opposition to the submerged land lease. And, a diverse cast of local citizens were headed to Tallahassee to protest before the Cabinet, when FDEP apparently withdrew the application from the cabinet meeting agenda after St. Lucie County commissioners and a diverse constituency expressed their strong disapproval.

In his letter sent last week, Pruitt again articulated a vision for the Treasure Coast, one described more fully in a report that Treasure Coast citizens generated at Pruitt’s request, called the Sustainable Treasure Coast Final Report www.sustainabletc.org . Desirable projects and developments identified in both the report and in Pruitt’s letter opposing the submerged land lease include biotechnology ventures, research and education facilities, and natural resource conservation, restoration and enhancement.

“Frankly, this vision does not include expanded cargo operations at the port," Pruitt wrote. "In fact, any cargo expansion would negate the work being done to realize that vision."