By Doug Thompson
The Morning News

ROGERS - Oklahoma's federal lawsuit against Arkansas poultry producers has statewide and national importance that could result in changes to federal law, Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said Thursday in Rogers.

If a federal judge rules applying chicken litter as fertilizer is subject to federal regulation or regulation across state lines, "that would be a huge wake-up call to every farm-state member of Congress," he said.

Pryor was in Rogers as keynote speaker to the Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce annual awards banquet, which had at least 1,000 in attendance at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers. He made his remarks about the poultry suit in an interview before the event. The Oklahoma attorney general's office has filed suit in federal court in that state over pollution of water there by Northwest Arkansas' poultry industry. The industry says the suit is an attempt by one state to dictate standards to another, ignoring a federally approved inter-state compact over water quality in rivers that run between the two.

Pryor and fellow Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark, have tried to amend federal law to specifically exclude farm runoff from anti-pollution provisions, but have not succeeded. Pryor said lawmakers from other states do not see an impact for them, but will if Oklahoma prevails in the lawsuit.

A decision in favor of Oklahoma would set a precedent for regulation of all forms of animal wastes from farms, and could also be used to make a case for regulation of runoff from all sorts of farming activity, Pryor said. "This isn't just chickens or Northwest Arkansas involved here," Pryor said. "It's all of Arkansas and agriculture all over the country."

During his speech, Pryor also said that he expects a consumer product safety bill he's worked on will reach the Senate floor within a couple of weeks. The bill would beef up protections such as expanding third-party laboratory testing of products, he said.