July 4, 2009

US poultry firms fail to delay watershed lawsuit

The defendants in the Illinois River watershed pollution lawsuit - 12 poultry companies - have failed in their motion in asking for delay as a Tulsa federal judge is pushing forward to keep a September 21 trial date.

The companies said they need more time to handle all the paperwork from Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson's office, and that the case is unusually complex and "billions of dollars" in damages are at stake.

But US District Judge Gregory Frizzell said Thursday (Jul 2) the trial date has been established for some time.

Most of Thursday's hearing dealt with the Cherokee Nation, an entity that is not a party in the lawsuit, which was filed in 2005.

In May, the Cherokee Nation and state officials announced that the tribe had given the state "the right to prosecute any of the Nation's claims" against the poultry companies for their alleged pollution of the Illinois River watershed.

The agreement came several months after a poultry company court filing raised the issue of ownership of the Illinois River.

On Thursday, attorney Thomas Green, representing Arkansas-based Tyson Foods Inc., one of the defendants, said the agreement between the state and the tribe is not permissible under the law.

Last year, the defense filed a motion asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit for failure to include the Cherokee Nation as a required party.

Attorney Robert Nance, on behalf of the state, countered Thursday that the "historic, unprecedented" May agreement is not improper. He said the pact should not be viewed as an acknowledgment that the tribe is legally a necessary party.

In May, a federal appeals court rejected Oklahoma's bid to stop poultry growers in Oklahoma and Arkansas from using poultry litter as a fertiliser in the Illinois River watershed.