US poultry industry wins chicken litter case.. for now

A federal appeals court has rejected Oklahoma's bid to stop poultry growers in Oklahoma and Arkansas from using poultry litter as a fertiliser in the Illinois River Watershed, while a larger environmental case finds its way to the court.

 

The appeals court said Attorney General Drew Edmondson has ''failed to link land-applied poultry litter and bacteria in the IRW (Illinois River Watershed).''

 

The court did not address the merits of the lawsuit, but said Oklahoma had not proved ''irreparable harm'' in asking to immediately block companies from dumping their waste. The court also upheld the lower court's rejection of two of Oklahoma's expert witnesses, whose testimonies were deemed unreliable because their work had not been peer-reviewed or published.

 

A trial in the larger lawsuit is scheduled for September.

 

The poultry industry argues that cattle and human waste could also be causing higher levels of bacteria in the watershed. Oklahoma said it doesn't have to prove contamination, and the 345,000 tonnes of chicken waste dumped there annually may cause contamination.

 

State officials estimate the use of untreated poultry waste in the watershed is the equivalent of untreated human waste from between 4.2 million and 10.7 million people. The case is closely-watched because the result determines production costs and meat prices.

 

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is suing 13 Arkansas poultry companies, including Tyson Foods Inc., Tyson Poultry Inc. and Tyson Chicken Inc., Cobb-Vantress Inc., Cal-Maine Foods Inc., Cargill Inc., Cargill Turkey Production L.L.C., George's Inc., George's Farms Inc., Peterson Farms Inc., Simmons Foods Inc., Cal-Maine Farms Inc. and Willow Brook Foods Inc.