Update: Judge Molloy clears ag chief Rey in fire retardant case
By JOHN CRAMER of the Missoulian [here]
A federal judge in Missoula cleared Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey and the U.S. Forest Service of a contempt threat Wednesday.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy also ruled that the agency has finally completed his order to review the environmental impact of aerial fire retardant.
But a watchdog group whose lawsuit prompted the showdown said it planned to take new legal action to challenge the Forest Service’s finding that fire retardant causes little harm to fish, plants and other aquatic creatures.
Rey and other Forest Service officials apologized to Molloy for the agency’s tardiness in completing its environmental review, but they maintained they had acted in good faith.
Molloy accepted the apology but said it was “shameful” that it took a threat of contempt to make the Forest Service follow the law.
Watch out for those “watchdogs”.