A federal judge has ruled against activists for the St. Lucie River who sued the federal government on claims that it violated their property rights by allowing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pollute the waterway with massive discharges from Lake Okeechobee.

Judge Lynn Bush said the discharges’ long-term environmental effects on a “national treasure” were tragic, but she agreed with federal lawyers who argued that the property owners were past a six-year statute of limitations to pursue their case.

Even if they weren’t, she said, their property rights claim still would fail under state and federal law.

The plaintiffs, whose suit is being paid for by the non-profit Rivers Coalition Legal Defense Fund, waited several years to have their case heard in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington. They sought $50 million in damages, once the combined market value of their 22 riverside properties.

Karl Wickstrom, coordinator for the Rivers Coalition, said they plan to appeal the decision, which was released last week.

“We think she’s dead wrong,” he said. “It’d be scary if we couldn’t be protected from our own government when they pollute the water.” (more…)

Saturday morning, Chauncelor Howell and Mike Iania went to River Park on Prima Vista Boulevard with the hopes of catching a couple of fish. What they never expected was to find one of the largest specimens ever seen of a fish native to South America’s Amazon River. (more…)

When Martin County Commissioner Ed Ciampi ran for office about a year ago he heard one question over and over again: Do you want to build the Indian Street Bridge?

Ciampi, a supporter of the proposed bridge, always said yes, but with a mental shrug.

“I kind of felt, ‘Why are we talking about this? It’s never going to happen,’ ” he said.

That changed this year when a state legislative commission earmarked it for $128 million in federal stimulus dollars and the White House later reviewed the project and said it could move forward with the stimulus money. Now the construction of what some have called Florida’s Bridge to Nowhere seems imminent.

What does this mean for Martin County?

The answer, in classic Martin County fashion, depends on your stance on growth. That’s because the county is a community often polarized by questions of development, and perhaps no other road project has been as divisive as the Indian Street Bridge.

The bridge, which would provide a second span across the South Fork of the St. Lucie River between Palm City and Stuart, has been planned for decades. And it has been argued about for just as long.

Supporters of the project, which include four of five county commissioners, say the second bridge will alleviate traffic congestion in and out of Palm City, provide faster access to Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart, and ease economic pain in the region by creating more than 3,500 jobs during its estimated three-year construction.

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PORT ST. LUCIE — Former President Jimmy Carter cruised the St. Lucie River, mingled with friends and family at the local Club Med resort and helped raise more than $800,000 on Saturday to support the Carter Center.

Carter, his wife, Rosalynn, and some of his children and grandchildren were in town this past weekend for the annual “Winter Weekend,” an event for supporters of the non-profit, Atlanta-based Carter Center, which promotes peace and health worldwide. (more…)

STUART — A Palm Beach County man lost his legs after being run over by a boat while diving near a popular Martin County park Friday afternoon, according to state officials.

Robert Murphy, 26, was among divers who were spear-fishing in the St. Lucie River near Sandsprit Park around 2 p.m., said state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro.

A 38-foot boat named the Master Plan and driven by Roger Nicosia of Stuart hit the diver.

Murphy was flown to St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach. Ferraro said both of Murphy’s legs had to be amputated. She did not know if he was hit by the propeller or the body of the boat or how fast the boat was going. The area where the divers were swimming is near the “Crossroads,” a high-traffic waterway at the St. Lucie Inlet where the St. Lucie and Indian rivers meet the Atlantic Ocean.

Investigators have not determined the cause of the accident, but were interviewing witnesses and the boat’s occupants at Sandsprit Park on Friday. The Master Plan was towed to a nearby boat yard for examination.

Nicosia told investigators that the boat was having propeller problems, Ferraro said.

Jason Schultz