Sierra Club RAW: Jail Time for Forest Service Head?

Issue #230
October 12, 2007
Jail Time for Forest Service Head?
David Willett

You may remember that back in August, we told you about Forest Service Director Mark Rey's latest homework assignment. Rey and company had failed to properly assess the environmental impacts of a fire retardant known as ammonium phosphate -- a fertilizer known to kill fish and the primary ingredient in the flame retardant dropped on wildfires. As we noted, back in 2005 a federal judge found that the government had at least violated the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act by not having a public process to asses the risk. The judge told the Forest Service they had until August 8 of this year to comply with the law. When they knew they wouldn't meet their deadline, the judge sternly admonished them for asking for an extension on the last day, something he had already warned them not to do. The judge then ordered that unless the government fully complied by this Wednesday, Rey would have to personally go to jail.

Well Wednesday has come and gone and what did we see from the Forest Service? According to the Associated Press it's a bit of a headscratcher. They did turn something in, but whether it counts or not is another story. According to the Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, Rey's homework was incomplete at best. Because the Forest Service's report didn't find that ammonium phosphate poses no environmental threat, they are required to provide a more extensive environmental review or explain why they haven't done so. This puts Undersecretary Rey in a bit of legal limbo. It's up to the judge to decide whether the Forest Service complied with his order or not--giving Rey at least one more weekend as a free man. And while there may be some grim satisfaction in the possibility of Rey having to truly pay for his environmental crimes, unfortunately we aren't much closer to protecting the clean water and endangered species threatened by this dangerous chemical.

One might have hoped that the threat to so much wildlife, much less the threat of actual jail time, would have produced a more sincere effort from the agency tasked with protecting America's legacy.