Judge rules SunCruz may sail

A civil-court judge says the gambling boats can continue

to cruise while a lawsuit makes its way through the courts.

A civil-court judge on Friday rebuffed state regulators trying to shut down the SunCruz gambling boats in Pasco County, ruling that the company can continue sailing while lawyers argue about whether its ships are harming the Pithlatchascotee River.

The state Department of Environmental Protection sued the casino ship company earlier this year, alleging that propellers from the big cruise ships dredge the river as they head out to sea. As part of that lawsuit, DEP asked Circuit Judge W. Lowell Bray Jr. to halt the cruises until the case is decided.

On Friday, Bray ruled that SunCruz could continue sailing as the suit winds through the court system.

Bray's order did not specify the reasoning behind his decision.

Mollie Kolokithas, who heads SunCruz's west Florida operation, had not heard about the ruling Friday evening.

"That's great news," she said, referring questions about the case to attorney Larry Crow.

Crow could not be reached for comment Friday evening. Nor could DEP officials.

State experts testified they saw a large hole in the river bottom under the SunCruz dock on the Port Richey waterfront. The hole was missing the type of vegetation that is required to sustain fish and other aquatic creatures, according to court papers.

A DEP diver testified that he filmed the boat pulling away from the dock, with the pulses from its engines sending jets of water and silt toward the hole.

But SunCruz lawyers said the state hadn't proved the gambling ships caused the hole, noting that nobody had testified to whether the hole existed before the ships started sailing.

The gambling company also argued that any damage it might have caused was "grandfathered" because the riverside dock previously had been used by shrimpers and others who could have been expected to cause the same type of damage.

In order to have stopped the boats from sailing, the DEP had to prove that continued cruises would cause irreparable harm to the environment. SunCruz noted that the harm was not permanent because experts expect the river to return to its natural condition if the ships stop sailing.

Also testifying for SunCruz was a scientist from the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota who said he had examined the hole and found plentiful signs of life, including oysters, crabs, fish, Florida crown conch and worm holes.

Bray's decision is far from the end of SunCruz's legal problems. Still outstanding is the DEP's original lawsuit, which seeks an order permanently halting the cruises. The department also has sued to stop SunCruz from using the former Port Richey Marina to launch boats and ferries.

DEP contends that SunCruz, which bought the marina in 1998, lacks a lease to use submerged land along the marina's waterfront. As the property owner, the state is asking the court to evict SunCruz.

The site addressed in Bray's ruling on Friday is occupied by county Commissioner David "Hap" Clark. DEP officials have also accused Clark of violating a lease with the state by allowing the boats to sail from his dock and threatened to sue if he didn't stop them.