FORT PIERCE, Fla. — When trains roll in and the wind blows from the west along Indian River Drive in Fort Pierce, neighbors like the Godfreys said it stinks.
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“You don’t want to be outside,” said Linda Godfrey. “It’s a rotten, trashy smell.”
The Godfreys said the smell and the flies, come from the railway cars full of trash from Miami-Dade.
The cars are only a few yards away from their home.
“Flies are so bad,” said Joe Godfrey. “You open the door and they fly right in.”
The Godfreys said it’s gotten so bad, they had to screen in their front porch.
“They fly right in your drink,” said Joe Godfrey. “Got to keep your hand over the top of your cup.”
Back in 2023, an incinerator for trash in Miami broke down. Now, railway cars transport the trash to Fort Pierce and unload it onto trucks and drive it to the Okeechobee Landfill.
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On Monday, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., posted a video on social media, calling out Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) about the garbage.
“The smell is disgusting for people living along Indian River Drive,” Mast said. “They’re treating the city as though it’s a garbage transfer station before they take that garbage out to Okeechobee.”
However, Mast also said the railway is leaving railroad materials and trash along the tracks.
“Old tires, broken railroad ties, all along their tracks,” Mast said. “They’re flat out refusing to clean up their mess.”
Mast points to a federal lawsuit that FEC filed against the city of Fort Pierce in May, after the city told the railway back in April to clean the debris up or be fined.
The railway said in the lawsuit that the debris along the tracks are railroad materials and the city’s requirement for the railway to remove it is “preemptive by federal law.”
The Godfreys said they don’t feel listened to after reaching out to the railway for months.
“They just kinda ignore you,” said Linda Godfrey. “ [They] hope you go away.”
WPTV reached out to the city of Fort Pierce and they said they do not comment on open or pending litigation matter.
WPTV also reached out to FEC for comment and is still awaiting a response.
