BY ROBERT J. SMITH

Posted on Wednesday, March 5, 2008

URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/National/218732/

TULSA — Oklahoma’s bid to ban poultry-litter spreading in the Illinois River watershed was delayed Tuesday and today because a federal judge has the flu.

Howard Overton, U. S. District Court Judge Gregory Frizzell’s courtroom deputy, said the hearing won’t start again until at least 9 a. m. Thursday.

“If we can get the judge’s legs under him, we’ll come back to court,” Overton said.

At issue is poultry litter, the mixture of wood chips, rice hulls and bird manure spread on farm fields by farmers in Northwest Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma to fuel crop growth.

The Illinois River starts near Hogeye in Washington County and crosses into Oklahoma south of Siloam Springs. The river drains into Lake Tenkiller near Tahlequah, Okla.

Oklahoma wants the court to issue a moratorium on poultrylitter spreading in the watershed. Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson contends poultry litter is “solid waste” as defined in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976.

The state also alleges poultry litter threatens human health. The Oklahoma portion of the Illinois River, a state-designated “scenic river,” is popular for canoeing and fishing.

Eight poultry companies are fighting the injunction, contending that a ban would severely harm farmers who raise chickens and turkeys for the companies. In court, they have argued that there’s no proof that poultry litter threatens human health and they have described litter as a valuable crop fertilizer that isn’t waste.

The injunction request is part of a lawsuit filed by Edmondson against the poultry companies in 2005, alleging that litter is polluting the watershed.

The defendants are Tyson Foods of Springdale; Simmons Foods of Siloam Springs; Cargill Inc. of Minneapolis; Cobb-Vantress Inc. of Siloam Springs; George’s Inc. of Springdale; Peterson Farms Inc. of Decatur; Willow Brook Foods of Springfield, Mo.; and Cal-Maine Foods Inc. of Jackson, Miss.