The US Forest Service is admitting the use of a fire retardant violates the Clean Water Act of 1972. They made the admission Monday in federal court but argued that stopping its use would cripple their firefighting ability. They also claimed that the drops had minimal impact to federal waterways, such as creeks, streams and lakes. A lawsuit has been filed in Montana trying to prevent dumping fire retardant into National Forest waterways. A Press Democrat analysis shows that at least 117 of the 459 intrusion reports were from drops occurring in national forests in Northern California, including Mendocino, Six Rivers, Klamath, Lassen and Shasta Trinity.
Forest Service: Fire Retardant Does Pollute Water But It’s Needed to Fight Wildfires
