Oklahoma court ruling threatens poultry industry in Arkansas

An Oklahoma court ruling in a long-running lawsuit involving Arkansas poultry farmers and waste found in the Illinois River watershed could lead to significant closures of poultry operations in the state.

In a case dating back to 2005, U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell ruled Friday (Dec. 19) that several poultry companies must pay penalties in the lawsuit that placed liability for phosphorus pollution in the river watershed after negotiations to come up with a settlement failed.

The Illinois River Watershed is a major drainage basin spanning Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma. It originates in the Ozarks, flows through Lake Tenkiller, and joins the Arkansas River.

Tyson Foods, Cobb-Vantress, Cal-Maine Foods, Cargill, George’s, Peterson Farms, and Simmons Foods are defendants in the case brought by the Oklahoma Attorney General. The poultry companies have argued that their mitigation efforts have reduced the harm at the center of the lawsuit, but Frizzell disagreed.

“The court concluded that the defendants knew their growers, in the ordinary course of their work for the defendants, spread poultry litter on the land in the IRW [Illinois River Watershed], and knew or should have known no later than the late 1990s that their growers’ land application of poultry waste generated by the defendants’ poultry was a primary source of the excess phosphorus in the waters of the IRW,” Frizzell ruled. “Once on notice, the defendants had a duty to abate the nuisance and put a stop to the trespass, neither of which they have done.”

The judge’s ruling restricts the application of poultry waste on farmland that can be used in the watershed. The order tells the companies to pay penalties to the state of Oklahoma and immediately limits the amount of poultry litter that can be used as fertilizer in the area. The court decision also makes the companies responsible for poultry waste and forces them to terminate contracts with farmers who don’t comply with new requirements surrounding it.

Frizzell’s ruling said the poultry companies must pay $10 million into an account to monitor and clean up the watershed and then pay $5 million more every time the fund falls below $5 million. The process will be overseen by a special master who has yet to be named.

Regional poultry growers for the defendant companies fear their contracts will be terminated as a result of the court ruling leaving them with substantial debt and little way to continue operations.

“Ultimately, this ruling is a gross overreach and seeks to provide a solution to a problem that no longer exists,” said Dan Wright, president of the Arkansas Farm Bureau and a poultry producer in Waldron. “To make matters worse, these decisions are being handed down without any input from farmers. This ruling will have far and lasting impacts on agriculture across our state.”