MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge is weighing whether to severely limit the government’s use of aerial fire retardant to combat wildfires following arguments Monday by environmentalists who are concerned about water pollution.
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge is weighing whether to severely limit the government’s use of aerial fire retardant to combat wildfires following arguments Monday by environmentalists who are concerned about water pollution.
A lawsuit pitting an environmental advocacy group against the U.S. Forest Service and others — including a Northern California town called Paradise, where a 2018 blaze killed 85 people — could reshape the way blazes are fought as this year’s fire season inches closer. Aircraft drops the potentially toxic red slurry in a bid to slow the blazes.
At Monday’s hearing in Missoula, Montana — home of the Forest Service’s famous smokejumpers, who parachute into remote fires — U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen said he planned to issue his ruling soon. He said he was cognizant of the potential for a blaze erupting while the case winds its way through the legal process.
“I’m envisioning fire season just around the corner somewhere in the western United States,” Christensen said.
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