BY ROBERT J. SMITH

Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2006

A federal judge Wednesday delayed his decision about whether investigators can collect water and soil samples at 14 Oklahoma farms. U. S. District Court Magistrate Sam Joyner of Tulsa took the issue under advisement, leaving open the question of whether Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson can collect the samples as part of his lawsuit against eight poultry companies with operations in Arkansas. Edmondson declined comment Wednesday, said Charlie Price, an Edmondson spokesman. Joyner didn’t say when he’ll decide about the sampling.

Bev Saunders, who raises chickens with her husband Al near Colcord, Okla., for Decatur-based Peterson Farms Inc., attended the hearing and wouldn’t predict how Joyner will rule.

“I couldn’t tell you how it’s going to go,” she said. “I wish they’d all go away and let us farm. We’re not a bunch of outlaws.”

In April, Edmondson issued subpoenas to collect water and soil samples beginning May 5 at the Saunders’ farm and 13 others. The subpoenas required farmers to let investigators collect samples of soil, rainfall runoff and groundwater.

The farmers, most of whom raise chickens for the eight companies, asked the court earlier this month to forbid the sampling. Joyner issued a temporary injunction pending his decision on the matter.

In court papers filed this week, Ken Williams, a Tulsa attorney representing poultry farmers opposed to the sampling, described his clients as “unwilling guinea pigs” in Edmondson’s “misguided science project.”

In a separate court filing, Robert George, a Fayetteville attorney representing Tyson Foods Inc., described Edmond- son’s request for samples as an “unduly burdensome fishing expedition.”

The companies fear investigators collecting samples could spread bird diseases. Springdale-based Tyson Foods, like most U. S. poultry companies, has strict biosecurity measures for chicken houses.

Edmondson has accused Tyson Foods of using biosecurity protocols as a way to block the sampling.

In court papers, George said the biosecurity measures are necessary because of bird diseases such as Asian avian influenza and infectious laryngotracheitis.

Asian avian influenza, a disease that has killed 115 of 207 infected people since 2003, has never been detected in North America.

Infectious laryngotracheitis, commonly referred to as “LT,” is a virus that causes respiratory problems in chickens. It has been found in Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The samples are an important part of the federal lawsuit against the companies, Edmondson has said.

In June, Edmondson sued the eight poultry companies, accusing them of polluting the Illinois River watershed. The companies are Cargill Inc. of Minneapolis; Cobb-Vantress Inc. of Siloam Springs; George’s Inc. of Springdale; Peterson Farms; Simmons Foods; Tyson Foods; Willow Brook Foods of Springfield, Mo.; and Cal-Maine Foods Inc. of Jackson, Miss. All the companies have operations in the 1, 645-square-mile Illinois River watershed. About 45 percent of the watershed is in Arkansas, and its water flows west into Oklahoma. The majority of the watershed is in eastern Oklahoma, where the Illinois River holds the state’s highest environmental protection. Scenic stretches of the river are sought by tourists for canoeing.