Arkansas Governor to Beebe: Get back in dispute over water sampling

BY ROBERT J. SMITH

Gov. Mike Huckabee on Friday asked Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe to fight against the “crazed obsession” of Oklahoma’s attorney general against poultry companies with operations in Arkansas.

Huckabee’s comments on Friday came as the directors of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission asked Beebe in a letter to step back into the federal lawsuit and dispute between Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson and the poultry companies.

“I want to protect our citizens from the irrational and crazed obsession that the Oklahoma AG has to make a name for himself by the ongoing harassment of our companies, cities and private landowners who have been berated and falsely accused by Mr. Edmondson,” Huckabee said through his spokesman, Alice Stewart.

“Years of attempting to have good-faith discussions with [Edmondson ] have been fruitless, and he appears so focused on his ongoing publicity stunt that he cares not if he single-handedly destroys the good neighbor relations we’ve historically had with Oklahoma,” Huckabee said.

Huckabee’s comments and the letter sent to Beebe by Environmental Quality Department Director Marcus Devine and Natural Resources Commission Director Randy Young came a day after a federal judge in Tulsa gave Edmondson permission to begin seeking samples of soil, water and poultry litter from 21 farms.

The letter asks Beebe to reenter the dispute with Oklahoma. Matt DeCample, a Beebe spokesman, said it’s not certain whether the attorney general’s office will become involved again.

“We are continuing to discuss all options to protect the interests of Arkansas farmers and the state, including the possibility of intervening in the current case,” DeCample said. “Beyond that, we don’t want to comment right now.”

Beebe asked the U. S. Supreme Court in November to review the federal court case because it’s a dispute between two states. The nation’s highest court has what’s known as original jurisdiction in disputes between states and can address them, but in February the court refused to get involved.

Edmondson has contended since his federal lawsuit was filed in June that his dispute is with eight poultry companies with operations in Arkansas, not the state of Arkansas. Edmondson sued Cargill Inc. of Minneapolis; Cobb-Vantress Inc. and Simmons Foods Inc., both of Siloam Springs; George’s Inc. of Springdale; Peterson Farms Inc. of Decatur; Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale; Willow Brook Foods of Springfield, Mo.; and Cal-Maine Foods Inc. of Jackson, Miss.

In his court filing, Edmondson claims the companies allow poultry litter to pollute the Illinois River watershed. The watershed includes large portions of Benton and Washington counties before the river flows into Oklahoma south of Siloam Springs.

“The Oklahoma attorney general’s actions yesterday in his crusade against agriculture make clear that he intends to carry his fight beyond the large poultry companies to the individual Arkansas landowner,” the letter to Beebe reads.

Edmondson said Thursday the farms sampled would be either private farms in Oklahoma or company-owned farms in Arkansas.

Owners of the 21 farms, which have not been selected by Edmondson yet, must be subpoenaed. The owners will have a chance to comment on any sampling planned by Edmondson’s office before the samples may be taken. Edmondson wants to take the samples this spring.

“There are entirely separate legal proceedings still to be held regarding testing on private land in each state,” said Charlie Price, Edmondson’s spokesman. “Everyone in the courtroom knew that. Before the directors start criticizing the ruling, maybe they should have come and listened to what the judge said so they would better understand what happened.

“ This is obviously another coordinated effort by the poultry companies and Arkansas agencies to delay our efforts to protect Oklahoma’s natural resources and the health of our citizens.”