An environmental group filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service for allegedly polluting waterways during their battles against wildfires by inadvertently dropping large volumes of chemical flame retardant into streams.
Government data released earlier this year found aircraft operated by the Forest Service dropped more than 760,000 gallons of fire retardant directly onto streams and other waterways between 2012 and 2019. The main ingredients in fire retardant are fertilizers and salts that can be toxic to some aquatic species.
The lawsuit alleges the continued use of retardant from aircraft violates the Clean Water Act.
