Air Force Sued for Polluting Oregon Wilderness During Trainings

The US Air Force unlawfully pollutes Oregon wildlands and rivers when it discharges chaff and flares from its aircraft during training exercises, an environmental group alleged in a federal lawsuit.

The Air Force claimed in an environmental impact statement for its proposed expansion of Mountain Home Air Force Base’s military overflight training operations that the chaff and flares aren’t toxic and won’t affect water quality.

But the training activities are damaging fish and wildlife habitat and water resources in the the Owyhee Canyonlands in eastern Oregon—a wilderness area that provides habitat for more than 200 species of wildlife, some of ...