On Friday, a federal judge ordered poultry companies to pay cleanup costs for the Illinois River Watershed in the latest ruling in the State of Oklahoma's decades-long poultry lawsuit. The order also tells the companies to pay penalties to the state and immediately limits the amount of poultry litter used as fertilizer in the area.
It's the latest development in a case that's been ongoing for two decades. Then-Attorney General Drew Edmondson filed the initial complaint against Tyson, Cobb-Vantress, Cargill and other companies in June of 2005. The trial took place in 2010.
But Judge Gregory Frizzell didn't come to a decision on the matter until 2023, when he ruled the poultry companies were polluting certain Oklahoma waters with phosphorus, a chemical found in bird waste.
The companies challenged that ruling, saying it was based on old evidence; Frizzell disagreed. Attorney General Gentner Drummond suggested a cleanup plan in which the poultry companies paid tens of millions of dollars; the poultry companies disagreed.
Earlier this month, Tyson said it wouldn't enter new contracts with Oklahoma poultry growers if the court's penalties were too stringent.
Now, Frizzell has issued a cleanup order requiring the companies to pay for cleanup overseen by a "special master," similar to what Drummond laid out in his cleanup proposal. But the pollution limits and monetary penalties aren't as strict as the ones Drummond suggested.
Still, Frizzell's order is clear: he holds the companies responsible for the pollution and its cleanup.
"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 wrote in the order.
What's in the new order?
The poultry companies will maintain a fund to cover cleanup costs in the Illinois River Watershed for at least the next 30 years. To start, they'll pay $10 million. The court will appoint a "special master" to oversee planning, cleanup and monitoring.
The order also includes an immediate limit on poultry litter use as fertilizer in the Illinois River Watershed, although the court-issued limit on phosphorus in soil is less stringent than the state requested. As the industry figures out what to do with extra waste, the order places the cost burden on the companies, not contract poultry growers.
The judge also ordered the companies to pay a combined total of $420,000 in penalties to the state. Those are also less harsh than the penalties Drummond requested earlier this year.
For example, the state identified 106 instances in which Tyson violated Oklahoma's phosphorus limits in soil, meaning Tyson could be forced to pay up to $1 million in fines. But because of the poultry companies' "good faith efforts" to comply, the court is only asking Tyson to pay $160,000.
The other poultry companies saw similarly reduced fines.
What are Oklahoma officials saying?
In response, Drummond said in a press release that the judgment has ramifications for the industry and shows why the state has focused on the importance of negotiations among poultry companies. He said a healthy poultry industry and clean water can coexist.
"I remain committed to working with the poultry companies toward a resolution," Drummond said in the release. "I can help facilitate negotiations that achieve cleanup of the watershed while supporting Oklahoma farmers."
Drummond urged the companies to settle with the state rather than challenge the judge's cleanup order.
"Let's find a path forward together," Drummond said in the release. "I fervently believe there are solutions that will clean up our water while ensuring a strong and enduring poultry business in Oklahoma."
Gov. Kevin Stitt has criticized Drummond's handling of the case. Earlier this week, he met with poultry producers in Adair County to express support for the growers.
Stitt's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the cleanup order. Nor did Tyson, Cargill, Simmons or industry lobbying group The Poultry Federation.
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.
