FLOOD WARNING Click county for more information: Ottawa, Rogers, Tulsa, Washington         FIRE WARNING Click county for more information: Woodward        

TULSA, Okla. -- A federal magistrate granted a request by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson's office to extend the deadline to submit expert reports in its lawsuit alleging Arkansas poultry companies are treating Oklahoma's rivers like open sewers.

The attorney general had sought a four-month extension to produce expert witness reports on all issues in the case except damages, according to an opinion and order issued on Thursday by U.S. Magistrate Sam Joyner.

Joyner found that the attorney general "established good cause for a brief extension of the expert report date based upon the time required in preparation for, and presentation of, the hearing on motion for preliminary injunction. Further, Plaintiff did not receive the number of birds located within the watershed from Defendants until January, 2008."

But Joyner wrote that the four-month extension being sought "is not warranted," and he opted for delaying the April 1 deadline by 45 days.

Joyner also granted a request by Peterson Farms Inc., one of the defendants, for an extension of other upcoming dates, except expert reports on damages. Joyner said the request was reasonable and doesn't interfere with a September 2009 trial.

The attorney general will have to submit the expert reports by May 15, and the poultry companies have until Aug. 14 to provide an expert report on all issues except damages, Joyner said.

All other scheduled dates won't change and no other extensions will be granted without good cause, the judge wrote.

Besides the lawsuit, Edmondson is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop using the waste as fertilizer, saying bacteria has run off into rivers and streams and seeped into the groundwater.

Peterson and 13 other companies have denied that the practice of spreading bird waste in the Illinois River watershed has polluted the area, and argued that stopping the practice could cost farmers up to $77 million in the first year.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell took the motion under advisement earlier this month.

Besides Peterson, Tyson Foods Inc., Tyson Poultry Inc., 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., Simmons Foods Inc., Cal-Maine Farms Inc. and Willow Brook Foods Inc. are named in the lawsuit.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.