Okie Phosphorus Battle Tabled for the Moment

Northwest Arkansas’ phosphorus fracas with the Sooner state is water under the bridge. At least for now.

But growers grumble about new legislation, and Arkansas officials agree that even the 10-year time frame to meet Oklahoma’s proposed phosphorus index is impossible.

Oklahoma and Arkansas officials signed an agreement on Dec. 18 that stalled federal litigation between the states over phosphorus levels in six of Oklahoma’s scenic rivers. The agreement, known as the “Statement of Joint Principles and Actions,” was brokered by the Environmental Protection Agency after Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody asked Attorney General Mike Beebe’s office to get involved.

Coody asked for help after he discovered a meeting between officials of both states and the EPA had been canceled by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission, Coody said. To avoid federal court, Beebe lit a fire under his staff, and the meeting came off as scheduled.

Part of the settlement requires Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville and Siloam Springs to reduce phosphorus in wastewater discharges to one part per million. Four of the five cities discharge wastewater into tributaries of the Illinois River. Bentonville will once its new facility is finished.

Coody said Fayetteville already discharges below the restriction.

But the agreement is not binding, Beebe said.

“Arkansas can say stick it, or Oklahoma can say stick it anytime,” Beebe said.

When asked about potential harm to the economy in Northwest Arkansas if the agreement falls through, or if it never happened, Beebe said, “I shudder to think of what the fallout would have been … it’s too ugly to contemplate.”

The USDA’s estimated farm gate value for Benton County poultry sales in 1997, the last year for which individual county data is available, was $294.91 million. In Washington County, the same figure was $306.99 million. Each represented about 12 percent of Arkansas’ $2.52 billion in 1997 poultry sales.

The detailed 2002 USDA Agricultural Census isn’t expected to be published until June. If the counties still represent about 12 percent each of the state’s $2.26 billion in 2002 sales, they would have had about $271.2 million in sales each, or a two-county total of $542.4 million.

Experts at the National Agriculture Statistical Service said a multiplier of seven to 10 times would be used on the $542.4 million figure to calculate the total value of the local poultry market including equipment, labor and other assets.

Arkansas Reaction

The agreement, which is not part of a lawsuit filed by the city of Tulsa over drinking water (see below), also requires both states to work on solutions for removal of excess litter from the watersheds — mostly in Northwest Arkansas. It gives Arkansas 10 years to meet a 0.037 parts per million phosphorus index.

“Phosphorus is a nutrient that is degrading our scenic rivers and lake Tenkiller,” said Oklahoma resident Ed Brocksmith, a former member of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission and a co-founder of Save the Illinois River Inc. “Phosphorus is an essential element to life, but an overabundance is very damaging.”

Doug Szenher, public and media affairs manager of ADEQ, said high levels of phosphorus cause water to appear green, can be harmful to aquatic life and may cause odor and taste problems.

Before the settlement was struck, three Arkansas laws designed to deal with agricultural phosphorus runoff were passed in 2003. The laws require poultry growers to register their number of birds with the state, require certification and training to apply litter and designate specific geographic spots as “nutrient surplus” areas where only certified applicators may spread litter.

Jeff Montgomery, a contract grower for Simmons Foods, said the legislation will cost him time and money and he thinks human wastewater from the cities is more responsible than agricultural applications for phosphorus issues.

He claims growers haven’t been given the opportunity to interject their experience in the legislation.

Travis Justice, senior economist with the Arkansas Farm Bureau, said that growers often have to suffer regulatory costs without the opportunity to make up the expenses in their operation. He said that regulations are one of the reasons the state has seen a two-thirds drop in dairy farms in the last 10 years.

Stanley Reed, president of the AFB, said the bureau was involved in the drafting process of the legislation and that its goal is to make the regulations as unburdensome as possible to growers.

The Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission is in the midst of public hearings across western and central Arkansas over Titles 19-22, which will eventually be the meat and potatoes of the legislation.

Adrian Baber, chief of the conservation division of the ASWCC, said the hearings will serve as sounding boards for growers and that feedback will be given due consideration.

Looking Forward

Scott McDaniel, attorney for Peterson Farms, said that integrator is seeking markets and technology to help its contract growers dispose of litter.

McDaniel, whose firm is in Tulsa, said that before the recent controversy, Peterson required its growers to comply with all environmental laws and to have a nutrient management plan.

Morril Harriman, executive vice president of the Poultry Federation of Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, said to expect an increase in funding from poultry producers to investigate water quality over the next few years.

So for the time being, Oklahoma and Arkansas have an agreement to disagree on the phosphorus index but will work together toward the goal of reducing phosphorus in watersheds.

Judge Calls for Interim Phosphorus Phase

A federal judge in Tulsa has ordered a trial period be implemented through January 2005 during which scientists from Oklahoma State University and the University of Arkansas would continue to work toward a quantitative phosphorus index. The Feb. 13 ruling came as the result of the universities being unable to agree upon a joint index.

The collaborative effort between the universities is part of a settlement between the city of Tulsa and six Arkansas poultry integrators and the city of Decatur over drinking water issues. The lawsuit was settled out of court in March 2003.

During the trial period, a modified version of the UA index is to be used. The UA index is qualitative, or estimates the relative risk of runoff from fields.

The OSU index is quantitative, or predictive of the amount of phosphorus running off a particular field, said Jim Cameron, chairman of the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority.

The index will eventually govern the amount of nutrients, such as poultry litter, that may be applied to the land.