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More at stake in lawsuit than just river, poultry farms
LINCOLN, Ark. (AP)--There is more at stake in a new lawsuit against poultry companies like Tyson Foods Inc. than just phosphorus pollution in the Illinois River or even the chicken business.
Cattle farmers in Arkansas and Oklahoma say a successful lawsuit by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson to regulate the use of chicken litter on Arkansas farms could trickle down to hurt their industry, too.
"I raise grass. The cows are the harvesters," said Al Saunders, who depends on chicken litter to fertilize the land of his two farms in the rocky hollows of eastern Oklahoma. "If the chickens leave, I'll lose both farms."
Edmondson's complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, claims violations of the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act, state and federal nuisance laws, trespass and Oklahoma environmental and agriculture codes.
The suit follows months of tense negotiations with Springdale-based Tyson, the world's largest meat producer, and 12 other poultry companies. It seeks unspecified compensation to clean up the damage.
To this point, poultry companies and chicken farmers have been the focus of the lawsuit. Farmer Gene Pharr of Lincoln, Ark., said the suit could force the companies to move out of Oklahoma and Arkansas and raise chickens somewhere less troublesome than in the Illinois River watershed.
Edmondson acknowledges the potential negative economic impact if the lawsuit drives out poultry companies, but he said he doubts they will find a place to "allow them to pollute without cleaning it up."
But now cattle farmers are looking to come into the lawsuit on the side of the poultry companies, and owners of resorts along the Illinois River in Oklahoma could be forced into the lawsuit, too. The poultry companies say septic systems used by the resorts are also responsible for phosphorus deposits in the river and sent a letter to resort owners in April.
Date: 6/23/05
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