Tulsa Files Lawsuit Against Poultry Industry

The City of Tulsa and the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority have filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court in Oklahoma against six poultry processors.

The city blames the companies for overwhelming taste and odor problems in the city’s drinking water and alleges that the problems are linked to waste from chicken production.

Included as defendants are Tyson Foods Inc., based in Springdale; Cobb-Vantress Inc. of Siloam Springs, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tyson; Peterson Farms of Decatur; Simmons Foods Inc. of Siloam Springs; Cargill Inc., which has a plant at Springdale; and George’s Inc. of Springdale. The City of Decatur is also a defendant in the suit.

The suit asks the court to grant monetary damages for additional costs incurred to treat excessive waste in the city’s water, injunctions to stop further pollution of water, costs for future treatment of the water and damages for polluting the water.

“The problem is simple,” said Tulsa Mayor Susan Savage. “The industry has polluted our lakes and is causing their premature death. The degradation of Tulsa’s water ties to the chicken litter that is applied to land in the watershed. We believe that must stop, and we believe the industry must be responsible for the cost of the cleanup,” she added.