Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP / Getty Images
(Miami, Fl) - Miami-Dade's Port of Miami is facing a fuel crisis now that land housing its fueling hub on Fisher Island has been sold for luxury condos.
PortMiami is the only major US port with no on-site fueling and now the county commission is scrambling.
TransMontaigne Partners announced that the Fisher Island Terminal housing 672,650 barrels of marine fuel storage was unnamed buyer for $180 million.
Fisher Island housed the fueling hub for 95 years and suddenly announced the land sale.
"We should have dealt with this when the was put up for sale. But the decision we made last time puts this county's economy at risk." warned commissioner Raquel Regalado.
Now the land has been sold, and the mayor is proposing that the county takes it by eminent domain which empowers power of the government to acquire private property for a public use.
The other option is to move the fuel farm to another location, possibly inside the port itself.
Fuel will still be available while commissioners figure out a solution, but ultimately relocation of the fuel farm will be costly and complicated.
Many commissioners admitting that this oversight will cost the county millions of dollars and put the cruise and cargo industries which employ thousands at risk.