Tire Makers Accused of Killing Protected Fish With Toxic Runoff

Bridgestone Americas Inc., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., and other tire manufacturers indirectly discharged chemicals into waterways and killed protected fish species, causing California to suspend the commercial salmon fishing season for 2023, fishing groups alleged Wednesday in a federal lawsuit.

The tire manufacturers include a chemical called 6PPD in their tires, which transforms into 6PPD-quinone and kills imperiled species like coho salmon, Chinook salmon, and steelhead trout when it ends up in waterways, Institute for Fisheries Resources and Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations said.

The fishing groups say that 6PPD-q is now found in toxic concentrations ...