As of Dec. 3, Ken McQueen will no longer serve as the secretary of energy and environment or the director of the Department of Energy. In a statement posted to X, Gov. Kevin Stitt wrote he fired McQueen for attending an evidentiary hearing on a nearly 20-year-old poultry lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims major poultry companies including Tyson Foods polluted the Illinois River Watershed with chicken and turkey waste.
When the lawsuit was filed in 2005, it listed the then-attorney general and secretary of the environment as plaintiffs. McQueen inherited the lawsuit “in his capacity as the Trustee for Natural Resources for the State of Oklahoma,” according to court documents.
The judge overseeing the case ordered McQueen and Attorney General Gentner Drummond to provide supplemental information for this week’s hearing.
Stitt wrote that by showing up to the hearing, McQueen was opposing Oklahoma farmers and landowners.
“This nearly two-decade-old case is a radical left attempt at backdoor regulation through litigation,” Stitt wrote.
His office did not return requests for comment on the matter.
Former Attorney General Drew Edmondson, who filed the lawsuit in 2005, was also in attendance and named in the governor’s post. The former attorney general told Oklahoma Voice McQueen was obligated to show up to the hearing, calling Stitt’s decision to fire him “just plain stupid.”
Stitt’s comments against McQueen, Drummond and Edmondson came about an hour after Stitt named Jeff Starling as the new secretary of energy and environment. Starling spent several years in the energy industry in various positions, most recently acting as the chief legal and administrative officer and corporate secretary at water infrastructure company Lagoon Water Midstream.
“I’m honored the governor trusts me with this responsibility and I look forward to working to make it even easier to do business in Oklahoma,” Starling said in a news release.
Northern District Court Judge Gregory Frizzell last year directed parties involved in the lawsuit to return with updated evidence, but maintained that the poultry companies had contaminated the watershed and remediation was necessary. The state was asked to show whether phosphorus build-up, found in chicken and turkey waste, remained an issue.
Drummond will move forward on the lawsuit, said Phil Bacharach, director of communications for the attorney general.
“Attorney General Drummond will continue to seek a fair resolution to the case that protects our natural resources and preserves agricultural production throughout the watershed.”
Update Dec. 5, 2024:
Since this story's publishing, The Frontier reported McQueen learned of the firing through social media and had submitted a resignation letter in November.
Kelly Bostian with Oklahoma Ecology Project contributed to this report.
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