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David Stanley Ford

Illinois River watershed pollution case could advance

DAVID HARPER - Tulsa World    Comments Comment on this article7
Published: July 3, 2009

TULSA — A Tulsa federal judge is pushing forward to keep a Sept. 21 trial date in a lawsuit over Illinois River watershed pollution.

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The defendants — 12 poultry companies — had filed a motion earlier this week asking for a delay, saying they need more time to handle all the paperwork from Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson’s office.

The defense motion also argued that the case is unusually complex and that "billions of dollars” in damages could be at stake.

But U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell said during a hearing Thursday that the trial date has been established for quite some time.

By September, he said, it will be time to get the case before a jury.

"We’re going to hold your feet to the fire,” Frizzell said.

Afterward, Edmondson said the defendants "would like to never have a trial.”

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 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.

Nance said the pact should not be viewed as an acknowledgment that the tribe is legally a necessary party.

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David Stanley Ford


Related Topics: Judiciary, U.S. Courts, Trials, Native American Issues


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Keep up the good fight Drew.
David, Norman - Jul 3, 2009 at 3:43 pm
marcel, Gods Country - Jul 3, 2009 at 3:14 pm
The watershed area must be saturated to the max with chicken sh#t and the runoff washing excess waste into the river.Seems like Arkansas should be liable and a cleanup program should be initiated.Sh#t does run downhill.This waste has to be high in urea(nitrogen).
marcel, Gods Country - Jul 3, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Frankly, I'm more concerned with problems in the North Canadian River drainage area that provides most of the water for the western parts of Okie Land, including most of the drinking water here.
Kevin, Oklahoma City - Jul 3, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Sounds like a chicken sh#t deal to me....Let those Arkansas farms empty the water into their rivers and lakes.......
willis, oklahoma city - Jul 3, 2009 at 12:28 pm
Course, the poultry farmers could end this entire process by just doing the right thing and building mini sewer plants to treat their waste. I don't understand the problem. Yes it would cost them some money, but its mostly a one time non-recurring expense. I guess all the farmers in the area who get the free fertilizer from the chicken farmers might be upset about that. If they don't stop, then what will eventually happen is there will be a nutrient overload in Lake Tenkiller with a resultant algae bloom that will cause a huge gigantic fish kill. And then that will wake up the masses when they see pics of dead fish all over the lake.
Lynn, Oklahoma City - Jul 3, 2009 at 9:56 am
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I know some Illinois river land owners near Flint Ridge who are anxiously looking at this case. They have seen the quality of the river go down in the past 15 years. What used to be pristine water is now mostly brackish. They know not to swim in it and if it keeps getting worse their kids will not be able to boat in it as it will be like the rivers in India.
burt, edmond - Jul 3, 2009 at 9:00 am
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