Clinton appointed judge: In an emergency where people's lives are in danger, environmental concerns can no longer take a back seat to firefighting.
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 ...
Clinton appointed judge: In an emergency where people's lives are in danger, environmental concerns can no longer take a back seat to firefighting.
America..stuck on stupid.
One can only wonder , can a dead judge make biased environmental decisions?
So now human lives aren’t worth the life of a “endangered” inch worm or any other such animal? Well, I guess, if humans aren’t aborted there are other ways to end their worthless lives as they pollute Gia. As an alternative to poluting chemicals, I think they should drop these elitist enviromental wackos on the fires.
If they dyed the retardant a more appealing color, you would probably not hear from environmentalists. It is only because it is an un-natural red color that they protest.
Environmentalists are just not very smart.
First they don’t allow controlled fires which would burn away debris and over growth and now they don’t want the fire put out....what is wrong with these folks. I truly believe that 95 percent of the fires in the west are due to ridiculous laws that have been passed. I can’t believe that people whose homes have been burned to the ground have not realized this and yell and scream this from the rooftop....oops I know why, they don’t have a rooftop any longer.
But when dumped or dropped in a creek or lake, it can kill fish and plants.
As if wildfires don’t kill plants and animals!
How about we drop him on a fire. He looks retardant enough.
give the judge an axe, a shovel and tell HIM to get with it and stop the flames
Burn, baby burn
Good Grief, we had fires in the TX Hill Country a few years ago, and fire retardant was dropped. My place in the country was the nicest green after that. I loved getting the free fertilizer, plus not having my place burn down.
These judges think they have the power to order people to create new chemicals, technologies, and scientific breakthroughs. If he has such power, why doesn't he just forbid the forest to have wildfires until the more 'environmentally friendly' alternative is created?
And sheesh, what kind of portrait is that for a Judge. It looks like a poster for an off-Broadway magician.
I guess we will have to just load up the planes with korans and drop them on the fire.
They’ll be coming after your house/auto/boat fire extinguisher next.
They’ll be coming after your house/auto/boat fire extinguisher next.
That guy looks full of himself. I wonder how long he practiced his Orson Welles pose in front of a mirror.
The mope who filed the suit is a federal employee and he had no facts, only feelings. Isn’t that just great.
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