Poultry industry says Okla. could have done more to curb pollution in Illinois River watershed
By: JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS
Associated Press
10/06/09 8:20 AM EDT
TULSA, OKLA. — The Arkansas poultry industry tried Monday to show that Oklahoma had the power to fix the pollution problem in the Illinois River watershed without hauling poultry processors into federal court but failed to do so.
The 11 companies Oklahoma is suing used the cross-examination of Ed Fite, the director of Oklahoma's Scenic Rivers Commission, to illustrate what the state could have done before the 2005 lawsuit was filed. Oklahoma's lawsuit claims runoff from fields spread with tons of chicken litter has polluted the river valley on the Oklahoma-Arkansas border.
Last week, Fite testified he was in talks with the industry for more than a decade about ways to move chicken waste out of the watershed, but the industry failed to change its practices.
Monday, poultry industry attorney Tom Green asked Fite why Oklahoma has not banned farmers from letting their cattle defecate in the valley's rivers and streams, restricted cattle from grazing in riparian areas or regulated the use of commercial fertilizer, which contains the same phosphorus that poultry litter does.
Green asked Fite whether it was "humanly possible" for Oklahoma to implement any of the restrictions.
"The Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission has done what we could," Fite responded.
Fite's cross-examination came on the third day of testimony in the closely watched case, which could drag on for months.
Its outcome is being monitored by other states thinking about challenging the way the industry does business in other watersheds.
For decades, farmers in northeastern Oklahoma have spread litter from their chicken houses on their fields as a cheap fertilizer to grow other crops. The state argues runoff from the fields contains harmful bacteria that threatens the health of the tens of thousands of people who raft and fish in the watershed each year.
The defendants named in the lawsuit are Tyson Foods Inc., Cargill Inc., Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., Tyson Poultry Inc., Tyson Chicken Inc., Cobb-Vantress Inc., Cargill Turkey Production L.L.C., George's Inc., George's Farms Inc., Peterson Farms Inc. and Simmons Foods Inc.
Testimony is scheduled to continue Tuesday.
