ON FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF HERMIT'S PEAK/CALF CANYON FIRE CONTAINMENT, LEGER FERNANDEZ DEMANDS ANSWERS ON TOXIC METALS IN FIRE RETARDANTS

Washington, Aug. 21 -- Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernandez issued the following press release:

Four years after the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire was finally contained, U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.) is demanding greater accountability for the federal government's use of wildfire retardants that may contain toxic metals.

Leger Fernandez and House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) led a letter asking the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the prevalence and potential effects of toxic metals in fire retardants used by the U.S. Forest Service and Department of the Interior. The letter was also signed by Representatives Judy Chu, Adelita Grijalva, Raja Krishnamoo...