A federal judge has found several poultry companies guilty of phosphorous pollutiomj 20 years after Oklahoma State filed charges.
The decision came a matter of hours after Governor Kevin Stitt pleaded during a meeting of poultry farmers for leniency for them.
Colorado State’s environment protection agency said the Illinois River Watershed was polluted by the farms and processing companies and accused them of statutory public nuisance, federal common law nuisance, trespass and violations of two Oklahoma statutes tied to pollution.
The court previously found phosphorus levels in the watershed’s rivers and streams were elevated beyond natural background levels and that runoff tied to land-applied poultry waste was the principal contributor.
The court also imposed civil penalties under Oklahoma’s Environmental Quality Code based on documented soil test results exceeding 65 pounds per acre, then reduced penalties after weighing statutory factors. The court ordered Tyson Foods to pay $160,000, Cobb-Vantress $30,000, Cargill $60,000, George’s $10,000, Simmons $90,000 and Cal-Maine $70,000, plus post-judgment interest, with attorneys fees and costs to be determined later. The court said it would retain jurisdiction to enforce the judgment.
The judgment ordered a phased remediation process that included investigation, planning, implementation and monitoring. The court said it would appoint a master to oversee remediation and restrictions on land application of poultry waste and to recruit and supervise a watershed monitoring team to conduct inspections, prepare nutrient management plans and report material or repeated noncompliance.
The court set a soil test phosphorus threshold of 120 pounds per acre for land application of poultry waste generated by the defendants’ birds within the watershed, adopting a less stringent standard than the state requested.
The order also limited application rates to two tons per acre and required recent soil testing under supervision of the master or monitoring team before land application occurred.
