The Associated Press provides us with the latest update in the lawsuit between the state of Oklahoma and eleven poultry companies over alleged federal pollution violations in the Illinois River watershed.Yesterday, as part of the state’s case, a Cargill executive testified that he did not check to see whether or not their contract poultry growers were following the company guidelines established in a 2002 environmental handbook the executive helped create. The guide book did warn the farmers against spreading excess chicken waste on their land because “the runoff could pollute area water.” The executive, Timothy Maupin, vice president of agricultural operations for Cargill Turkey Production LLC, also testified that in 2002 the company implemented a pilot program to remove excess waste from the watershed, which is shared by Oklahoma and Arkansas. The plan wasn’t profitable and was abandoned after two years.
This testimony could help the state show U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frizzell, who is hearing the non-jury case, that the poultry companies were aware of the dangers of the waste, yet did little to follow up with farmers to ensure the watershed was not getting polluted.
Richard Garren was the attorney for Oklahoma questioning Maupin. Garren sought to paint Maupin, and by connection the other poultry company executives, as out of touch with what was happening with poultry waste on the ground on land owned by their contract farmers. Often Maupin was unable to remember his participation in meetings on the issue and his role in creating the manual and whether or not the manual was actually being followed.
There are roughly 1,800 bird houses within the Illinois River watershed. Additionally, the poultry industry employs roughly 55,000 people in the area. Though the state cannot recover economic damages for failing to name the Cherokee Nation as an indispensible party to the lawsuit, the state is pursuing the case to try and prevent future pollution. If the state wins it could set a precedent that will allow other states to pursue similar cases against the poultry industry.
Though the case has been ongoing in some form since 2005, Thursday marked only the 21st day of the trial, and at this point it is looking more and more likely that the case could push into 2010.
To read the Associated Press story on Thursday’s testimony, click here.
Posted: 11/13/09
