Tire makers say lawsuit over fish-killing chemical sidesteps EPA

BRIDGESTONE

11/03/2024 17:41

* 
      Lawsuit is first in U.S. to target rubber stabilizer 6PPD
in
tires
    

        * 
      Commercial fishing groups say degraded 6PPD kills trout,
salmon
    

  
    By Clark Mindock
       March 11 (Reuters) - Michelin  MICP.PA  and 12 other
tire manufacturers have asked a U.S. court to dismiss a lawsuit
filed by California-based commercial fishing groups that allege
a chemical used in their tires is poisoning West Coast
watersheds and killing rare trout and salmon.
    The tire manufactures, which also include Bridgestone
 5108.T  and Goodyear Tire & Rubber  GT.O , told a federal court
in San Francisco on Friday that the lawsuit attempts to “step
around” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is the
country’s primary regulator of chemicals and is already
considering rules targeting 6PPD, a rubber stabilizer.
    The Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast
Federation of Fishermen's Associations had said in their
November lawsuit that the chemical, which becomes toxic when it
degrades, is released from tires as vehicles drive around and
park. The degraded chemical can be flushed into waterways during
storms, where it kills protected salmon and trout.
    The groups said that violates a provision of the Endangered
Species Act (ESA) that prohibits parties from incidentally
harming or killing protected animals or plants without first
obtaining federal approvals. 
    But in Friday's filing, the tire manufacturers said those
prohibitions do not apply to chemicals additives in consumer
products that pose a threat "years later, in distant locations
and following extensive use and degradation of those products."
    Elizabeth Forsyth, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a
statement Monday that the chemical's alleged harms to protected
fish are exactly the kind of thing the ESA is intended to stop.
There is "no legal reason" why the law wouldn't apply in the
case, she said.
    6PPD is found in nearly every tire on the planet, according
to the plaintiffs, and is used to help keep rubber from breaking
down.
    Together, the 13 tire manufacturers sued account for 80% of
the domestic U.S. tire market, according to the lawsuit.
    The fishing groups claim the chemicals have contributed to
declining fish populations that have led to restrictions on
access to fishing waters, including the suspension of the 2023
California commercial salmon fishing season.
    The lawsuit, the first in the U.S. to target tire
manufacturers over 6PPD, seeks an injunction barring the
companies from manufacturing tires with the chemical without
first taking measures to protect fish and watersheds.
   Days before the lawsuit was filed, the EPA announced it would
take steps to regulate the chemical. The EPA said exposure to
the chemical can kill fish within a few hours.
    In July, California's Department of Toxic Substances Control
adopted a rule requiring tire manufacturers to evaluate safer
alternatives to 6PPD, noting the threat to certain salmon.
   
    The case is Institute for Fisheries Resources et al v.
Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations et al, in the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of California, case NO.
3:23-cv-05748
    For the fishing groups: Elizabeth Forsyth and Janette
Brimmer of Earthjustice
    For the tire companies: George Gigounas and Gwendolyn Keyes
Fleming of DLA Piper, and Susan Smith of Beveridge & Diamond
    
  
    Read more:
    US Commercial fishing groups sue tire manufacturers over
fish-killing chemical

 (Reporting by Clark Mindock)
 ((Clark.Mindock@thomsonreuters.com;))