An environmental group has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service for allegedly polluting waterways by dropping large volumes of fire retardant from aircraft to fight wildfires.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Montana by Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics of Eugene Oregon.
Government data released earlier this year found more than 760,000 gallons of fire retardant were dropped directly onto streams and other waterways between 2012 and 2019.
The main ingredients in fire retardant are inorganic fertilizers and salts that can be toxic to some fish, frogs, crustaceans and other aquatic species.