Posted on 09/12/2010 4:38:56 AM PDT by Zakeet
Lost in the images of aircraft dropping giant red plumes of retardant on a Colorado wildfire this week is the fact that the practice may not be legal under federal environmental laws.
A federal judge in July declared that the government's current plan for dropping retardant on fires is illegal, and he gave the U.S. Forest Service until the end of next year to find a more environmentally friendly alternative.
The aerial assaults have become a permanent fixture of television and media coverage of wildfires in recent years as planes and helicopters drop big loads of red chemicals over blazes. But environmentalists say the efforts are essentially public relations stunts that can send millions of gallons of hazardous chemicals into waterways while doing little to contain fires.
The fire retardant used to battle wildfires is 85 percent water, and the rest is made up of fertilizer and an anti-corrosion chemical meant to protect the air tankers that carry it. It also contains a red dye to help fire crews see the drops as they fall to the ground.
When mixed with water, the fertilizer component helps deprive wildfires of oxygen. But when dumped or dropped in a creek or lake, it can kill fish and plants.
"Just as any farmer knows not to drop liquid fertilizer in a creek or they'll go to jail ... retardant should not be dropped into a creek with a threatened or endangered species," said Andy Stahl of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, which brought the lawsuit that led to the judge's ruling earlier this year.
U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy in Missoula, Mont., wrote that government analyses of the practice violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to put any real limits on firefighters from calling in retardant drops.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
No, I think there is a bigger fallacy here.
During a fire soot, smoke etc. fall out from the surrounding atmosphere and contaminate the creeks, rivers, lakes etc. too.
The kills are as much from the fire and its pollutants as the retardants.
When it really hits the fan, the "progressive" judges must be the first to go.
Oh wait. But that’s all organic and natural! /sarc
There is a very simple solution to the problem if our “leaders” had the cajones to do so. The answer is: Don’t attempt to use anything other than dirt (water washes dangerous animal waste into the streams) to put the fire out. Of course, it wouldn’t but it would burn up enough homes, buildings, acreage, trees and animals to cause an outrage large enough to bring common sense to the environmentalists who currently have none.
Aren’t plants or fish in danger of dying from the wildfire anyway?
Aren’t plants or fish in danger of dying from the wildfire anyway?
They’ll be coming after your house/auto/boat fire extinguisher next
They already have, Don’t have a Halon fire extinguisher anywhere.
You can add to that the fish kills caused by run-off in the following years.
“When mixed with water, the fertilizer component helps deprive wildfires of oxygen. But when dumped or dropped in a creek or lake, it can kill fish and plants.”
So, let me get this straight. Fertilzer MIGHT kill fish and plants, whereas we KNOW wildfire definitely kills fish and plants.
This makes total sense if your goal is to definitely kill fish and plants. Also, you have the added benefit of killing people and destroying their houses, which is what the environmental loonies are really after.
It's deliberate. They want as many places as possible to be depopulated. This is just one of many ways to achieve that goal.
They'll all be issued: One Parachute, One Entrenching Tool, One 'Swiss Army' Knife, and One Canteen of water. 'The judge' will be in command, and as such will be additionally issued: One Two-way Radio, One Map, One Compass and One Roll of Toilet paper, color - white.When these do-gooders put the fire out with 'their Eco friendly equipment', they can call for extraction via the radio. Or if they fail, they can all poop and go blind, wipe their butt with the toilet paper, then kiss it goodbye and die in the fire.
Morons, all of them.
Great perspective on this whole thing! That's it in a soundbite.
I’m thinking a boiling stream is probably pretty bad for the fish as well.
Ha, ha! That too!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.