Arkansas Seeks to Sue
Oklahoma over Rules about Rivers Tainted by Poultry Waste
November 04, 2005 — By James Jefferson, Associated Press
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas asked
the Supreme Court on Thursday for permission to sue Oklahoma, saying its
neighbor is improperly trying to impose water standards across state
lines.
Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe told the court that the standards
would harm his state's $2 billion poultry industry and argued that a
35-year-old agreement should be used to settle differences over rivers
shared by the two states.
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson's office was reviewing the
filing and planned to respond later Thursday, spokeswoman Emily Lang
said.
Central to the dispute is the Illinois River, which flows west from
Arkansas. Oklahoma says farm runoff in Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma
taints the river, and this summer it sued Tyson Foods and seven other
Arkansas poultry companies, asking that they pay to repair the
watershed.
On Thursday, Arkansas said the lawsuit violates federal law and a 1970
compact between Arkansas and Oklahoma that addresses river water
quality.
"Oklahoma should respect our progress in addressing these issues instead
of trying to force Arkansas farmers and other businesses to abide by
Oklahoma law," said Beebe, a Democrat who is running for governor.
There are almost 3,000 poultry houses in the Illinois River watershed --
2,400 in Arkansas and 500 in Oklahoma -- and many fertilize their land
with poultry litter, a combination of bird manure and rice hulls or wood
chips. Oklahoma says excess runoff from the fertilizer produces
phosphorus waste equivalent to 10.7 million people per year, harming the
river and a lake.
Source: Associated Press
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