Fishing groups threaten litigation for 6ppd-quinone damages

SEATTLE, Wash.—Opposition to the use of the tire antidegradant 6ppd, which transforms during tire wear into a chemical that is fatal to several fish species in the Pacific Northwest, continues to mount.

Earthjustice has filed its second legal document in as many weeks demanding an immediate ban on the tire additive, this time on behalf of the Institute for Fisheries Resources and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations against 13 separate tire manufacturing companies.

The non-profit filed the 60-day notice Aug. 15 with the U.S. Commerce Department.

"If you do not cease unauthorized take of these species within 60 days, we plan to seek redress through litigation," Elizabeth Forsythe, senior attorney with Earthjustice's BioDefense Program, states in the filing. "The loss of salmon and steelhead populations has already significantly diminished the commercial and recreational fisheries of the West Coast, and these depleted populations cannot withstand the continued toxic assault from 6ppd-quinone."

The citizen complaint comes on the heels of an Aug. 1 petition filed by three Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest—comprising nearly 10,000 people—who also are demanding an immediate ban on the manufacture and sale of tires containing 6ppd.

6ppd is crucial to consumer safety in preventing cracking and splitting of tires during tire wear. However, 6ppd can morph into 6ppd-quinone during tire abrasion (reacting with ground-level ozone), an offshoot chemical that is toxic to fish.

"This chemical kills the coho salmon that we need to restore damaged coho runs that were once abundant," IFR and PCFFA Executive Director Glen Spain told Rubber News in a statement. "Coho salmon, which can no longer be harvested given their extremely low numbers, are already on the brink of extinction and 6ppd use in tires has now been revealed as a major driver of these losses."

A spokesperson for the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association said the association is aware of the notice letter and is reviewing it.

The two fishing industry groups argue in the 38-page notice that the tire makers—including Goodyear, Michelin, Continental and Bridgestone, along with nine other members of the USTMA—are in violation of Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act.

The notice cites nine Chinook salmon, four coho salmon and 11 steelhead trout fisheries that have been affected by 6ppd and are protected under the ESA.

The fisheries are located in the Puget Sound area; Willamette River area; the upper and lower basins of the Columbia River; the Snake River and Hells Canyon areas; the entire length of the Oregon coast; and specific sections of the California Coast, including a section in Southern California.

In aggregate, the fisheries and industry groups account for an estimated 16,000 jobs in the region, according to Earthjustice.

The notice goes on to say that while salmon and steelhead trout are "keystone species" for humans, at least 135 other species depend on salmon and steelhead for food, including orca whales, eagles, bears, wolves and seals.

Earthjustice calls 6ppd-quinone "the second most toxic chemical to aquatic species ever evaluated by the EPA." The first is the chemical war agent parathion, which has been banned in the U.S.

The chemical is not only present in stormwater runoff and urban watersheds, but also in sediments and soils, household dust, and human urine (especially that of pregnant women). Emerging science has pointed to toxicity in mammals, indicating a potential risk to human health.

"Today, approximately 2 percent of historic populations of wild salmon and steelhead remain," the Aug. 15 filing states. "The loss of these salmon and steelhead populations have reverberated across the economies and ecosystems of the region, causing a domino effect that affects the livelihoods of fishing men and women, including those represented by (IFR) and (PCFFA)."

If further litigation is filed following the Oct. 15 deadline for the 60-day notice, it will be filed with the National Marine Fisheries Service, which operates under the U.S Department of Commerce.

A majority of the declining fish population statistics cited in the Aug. 15 notice are attributed to measurements and studies undertaken by the NMFS.

Sourcing also is taken from the 2020 Tian et al. study at the University of Washington, which first identified 6ppd-quinone; and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (under the EPA).

"By continuing to use 6ppd in tires, companies are killing critically imperiled salmon and other fish protected under the Endangered Species Act," Forsyth said. "These tire companies have known for years that 6ppd is devastating to aquatic species, but they have thus far failed to remove this dangerous chemical from tires. The industry needs to ensure that their tires are not accelerating the collapse of our salmon fishery."

On behalf of a coalition of three American Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest, Earthjustice filed a petition with the U.S. EPA Aug. 1, demanding an immediate ban on the manufacture and sale of tires containing 6ppd.

The 17-page petition was filed on behalf of the Puyallup (Tacoma, Wash.), Yurok (Northern California) and Port Gamble S'Klallam (Kitsap Peninsula, Wash.) tribes and states that water contamination in the rivers, streams and soil of the expansive region is "imperiling salmon recovery" and may present a danger to the members of the tribes themselves.

The petition asks that regulations be established "prohibiting the manufacturing, processing, use and distribution of 6ppd in and for tires" and cites the EPA's own Toxic Substances Control Act (rather than the Endangered Species Act cited in the Aug. 15 filing) as a regulatory threshold.

TSCA mandates that the EPA ban or regulate "chemicals in commerce that pose unreasonable risks to human health or the environment" and gives the agency authority to order phaseouts of existing chemicals on the "fastest practicable timeline."

The regulations the tribes are seeking essentially would require tire companies to offer tires that are free from 6ppd—a similar outcome also being sought by the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Thus far, the public has heard from the U.S. EPA, the USTMA, the California DTSC and from companies involved in the search for an alternative for 6ppd.

With the petition filed Aug. 1 by the three tribes and the 60-day notice filed Aug. 15 by the two fishing industry groups, five more groups have joined the conversation under the counsel of Earthjustice.

The effort to find an alternative to 6ppd already is underway, with the USTMA compiling a consortium of 16 of the world's largest tire manufacturers to tackle the research; and the California DTSC outlining the process for the USTMA.

USTMA-affiliated companies will be guided in their research by California's Safer Consumer Product Regulations, and the listing of 6ppd as a "priority product" within the program.

The SCPR framework helps products and chemicals comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and other consumer, vehicle and tire manufacturer requirements.

The DTSC on July 26 officially adopted a rule that requires manufacturers of tires (domestic or foreign) for sale in California to evaluate safer alternatives to 6ppd, an additive that helps reduce tire cracking and wear.

The new rule applies to any tire in "the stream of commerce" in the state and takes effect Oct. 1.

Domestic and foreign manufacturers have until Nov. 30 to notify DTSC if they manufacture 6ppd-containing tires that are used in California, a DTSC spokesman told Rubber News.

According to the USTMA, any potential alternative to 6ppd "must provide equivalent tire safety and performance to 6ppd, while improving environmental metrics."

The USTMA believes a full mitigation strategy also must be undertaken, one that includes infrastructure efforts to filter or eliminate tire road wear particles, which contain roughly 50 percent tire abrasion particles and 50 percent road-related particles.

To this end, progress has been made.

The Recycled Rubber Coalition, based in Washington D.C., said new research demonstrates that rubber-modified asphalt, a major use for ground rubber from recycled tires, "is a safe and smart solution" to the 6ppd-quinone problem.

A study at the University of Nevada recently confirmed that ground rubber in asphalt mixtures can help absorb and retain 6ppd-quinone released by tires on the road, according to the RRC.

Rubber-modified asphalt—which uses ground rubber from recycled scrap tires—also can "double the lifespan of roads" and produces less CO2, Stratton Kirton, a spokesperson for the RRC, told Rubber News earlier this month.