In early 2023, Oklahoma Northern District Court Judge Gregory K. Frizzell ruled that the poultry companies were responsible for elevated phosphorus levels in the Illinois River Watershed and must clean it up.
For nearly three years, the state and the companies could not agree on a plan to do so. In December 2025, Frizzell issued a judgement outlining how poultry companies would fund cleanup, pay penalties and proceed to manage poultry waste under an appointed "special master."
The poultry companies have pushed back against that order. Several — Tyson, Cargill, Peterson and George's — developed proposed settlements with the office of Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond. These agreements would put a similar "special master" system in place, but the companies would pay less money toward cleanup and no penalties to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality.
"We are disappointed in the court's ruling," Shauna Peters, a spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General, said in a statement. "These agreements followed months of good-faith negotiations and would have delivered more than $31 million to address poultry litter pollution in the Illinois River Watershed."
The settlements would have vacated Frizzell's December judgement, as it applies to those companies. At hearings held in late-February and early-March, Frizzell said the companies seemed to have rolled the dice in hopes of a favorable judgement and saved their negotiations until they got one they didn't like. This is one of the reasons he cited for rejecting the settlements.
"Had the parties truly wished to reach a negotiated resolution of this matter without regard to outcome, such agreement could have been reached at any time in the nearly three years between the court's [2023 finding] and the Judgment," Frizzell wrote in his Wednesday order.
Frizzell also wrote the poultry companies are still violating federal law with their poultry waste management, and the settlements fail to address that.
"Settling defendants have presented no evidence that run-off from land-applied poultry waste has ceased to be a source of phosphorous, causing injury to the IRW waters such that the objectives of the Judgment — abatement of the nuisance and compliance with federal law — have been achieved," he wrote in the order.
In the order, Frizzell lists additional reasons for denying the settlements:
- The proposed settlements don't "limit the application of poultry waste to reduce phosphorus runoff in the Illinois River Watershed."
- They aren't long enough to remove legacy phosphorus in the watershed.
- The proposed "Monetary Relief Fund" in the settlements doesn't provide enough money for remediation.
- Under the proposed settlements the defendants would pay no penalties to the Oklahoma DEQ Revolving Fund for their violations.
- The proposed judgements don't assure that the amount of poultry waste applied in the watershed will decrease.
- Their structures are unworkable because two of the defendants have not settled and due to differences between the settlements.
- The proposed settlements don't properly fund the duties of the special master.
- Oklahoma's attorney fees and costs would not be subject to judicial review. Although Drummond said in a Feb. 27 hearing that the state could not use more than 50% of the money from the companies on attorney fees, Frizzell noted that limit is not laid out in the settlement agreements.
- The proposed judgements contain releases of nonparty contract growers who were under contracts with the defendants and this beyond the scope of the case and the court lacks jurisdiction.
- Although there is concern of the economic harm to contract growers in the watershed, it's too speculative to justify a finding of exceptional circumstances.
The defendants in this lawsuit are poultry integrators: the corporations owning, processing and selling birds and poultry products. They contract with poultry growers — individuals and smaller companies — to grow the chickens and deal with their waste.
In December, Tyson Food officials said it would not review contracts in the Illinois River Watershed unless the State of Oklahoma made more amicable demands in a solution.
Tyson Foods has sent letters to at least two contract poultry growers in Northwest Arkansas, saying it would not renew their contracts unless Tyson's settlement was approved.
In letters sent to growers on Feb. 11 obtained by KOSU, officials note that the company sent a 90-day written notice of expiration of broiler production contracts. But company officials also write that Tyson reached an agreement with the state and are working to achieve court approval.
"If approved and entered by Judge Frizzell, this settlement will provide a path for Tyson to continue to contract with growers like you in the watershed," one of the letters reads. "As a result, I am writing to inform you that Tyson intends to offer you a new Broiler Production Contract if and when the court enters our settlement."
Tyson, Cargill, George's and Peterson Farms did not immediately respond to requests for comment. All four companies filed appeals of the Frizzell's order denying the settlements.
"Our focus remains on securing fair and reasonable agreements, a focus shared by all four of the settling defendants in this case," said Peters with the Office of the Attorney General. "They expressed their commitment to finalizing the settlements regardless of the outcome, including by private settlement if necessary."
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
