OKLAHOMA CITY – A proposal that would access $100 million in penalties and change regulations for 11 poultry producers who were found liable for pollution in the Illinois River could shut down the poultry industry in northeastern Oklahoma if enacted, an industry group said in a media statement released late last week.
Representatives of the Poultry Foundation, a trade organization in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, recently filed a court brief and a proposed judgement in the case.
Marvin Childers, president of the group, said the plan by Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond “threatens to shut down a farming practice that has safely fed American families for generations.”
“It targets the use of poultry litter, a safe and natural fertilizer, despite decades of expert evidence and state-approved best management practices,” Childers’ statement said.
Childers said the attorney general’s request would extend far beyond poultry producers and seek “a complete ban on the use of poultry litter as fertilizer on any field over 65 STP (soil test phosphorus) in nutrient-sensitive watersheds—regardless of the farm’s operation, history of compliance, or lack of environmental harm.”
The response comes at the same time both sides of the 2005 lawsuit are in court attempting to resolve a two-decade long legal battle.
Childers said the vast majority of fields have no measurable impact on water quality. He said the state’s universities and leaders have recognized poultry litter as a critical resource for maintaining productive agriculture.
“Oklahoma’s agencies report improving water quality within the Illinois River watershed,” Childers said. “Even Oklahoma’s state legislature recognized the safety of poultry litter by approving its use at levels far higher than what the Attorney General now claims is dangerous.”
Drummond’s proposal would also name a “Special Master” with authority to access private property, impose mandates and exercise oversight powers.
Drummond countered that he was disappointed by the defendants’ refusal to participate in “forging a remedy to address their pollution of the Illinois River watershed.”
“Instead of taking responsibility, they attempt to deflect through personal attacks. I remain undeterred in my commitment to find a resolution to this matter. Oklahoma can and should have both clean water and a robust poultry industry,” the attorney general said.
In January of 2023, U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell found poultry companies operating in the Illinois River watershed liable to the state for statutory public nuisance and for federal common law nuisance as it applied to their conduct in the watershed.