Edmondson asks federal judge to block future poultry waste distribution
Source: Tulsa World
November 14, 2007
Citing an “imminent and substantial endangerment” to public health, Attorney General Drew Edmondson asked a federal judge on Wednesday to prohibit any further land application of poultry waste in the Illinois River Watershed.
The poultry companies’ reckless waste dumping methods are contributing to high levels of bacteria in the waters of the state, Edmondson alleges in court filings.
“We can show that fecal bacteria in poultry waste is reaching the surface water and groundwater,” Edmondson said. “Scientists found areas where the bacterial counts in runoff water from poultry waste disposal fields were similar to those found in raw, untreated human sewage.
``These bacteria can cause a myriad of gastrointestinal illnesses and infections through ingestion and skin contact. We need the court to stop the dumping of waste to protect public health and the safety of the state’s water resources.”
In 2005, Edmondson and Secretary of the Environment Miles Tolbert, sued several out-of-state poultry companies for the pollution caused by the improper land application and storage of hundreds of thousands of tons of poultry waste. The state accuses the companies of knowingly violating numerous state and federal environmental laws with their careless waste-dumping methods.
Because the bacteria have been found in samples from the area’s wells, springs and recreational streams, including the Illinois River, the state claims that land application of poultry waste should be halted.
“The Oklahoma Water Resources Board documents 1,717 water wells in the Oklahoma portion of the watershed, and 98 percent of these wells are used for drinking water and other household purposes,” Edmondson said. “Tests have found bacterial contamination, including E. coli, in many shallow wells, and bacterial levels of human health significance have been found in a number of springs.”
Edmondson said the state is seeking the injunction now so the court will have time to rule on the issue before the winter and spring waste disposal seasons expose even more of these harmful bacteria to the water people drink and streams in which they play.
