Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics filed another federal lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service over the agency’s use of aerial fire retardant on May 7. In this latest complaint, FSEEE alleges that the Forest Service’s use of fire retardant containing toxic levels of heavy metals violates the Endangered Species Act.
Circumstantial evidence of heavy metal contamination in Phos-Chek fire retardant, the most widely used retardant, has raised questions about the consequences of its use for years, but a 2024 USC study confirms that the bright red retardant qualifies as toxic waste because it contains high levels of cadmium, chromium, vanadium and other heavy metals.
The study reveals that more than 800,000 pounds of toxic metals have been dumped onto national forests during aerial fire retardant drops over the past decade, toxic contamination that will harm the natural ecosystem, especially endangered and threatened species as well as water quality.
The lawsuit also names the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as defendants.
