Farmers, Industry Support Beebe's Entry Into Poultry Lawsuit

By John L. Moore
The Morning News

Arkansas farmers and residents need a voice in a pollution lawsuit that challenges the state's sovereignty, said Arkansas Attorney General Mike Beebe.

Beebe filed a motion Tuesday to intervene in a federal court case, which Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson filed in June, claiming that poultry companies were responsible for polluting the Illinois River watershed and should have to pay to clean it up.

Beebe said the Arkansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Commission is the proper venue for the two states to discuss water quality in the Illinois River.

Beebe asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case earlier this year on the same issues of sovereignty and the commission's authority over water issues between the two states, but the high court declined.

"The Compact Commission was established to address water issues between the states, not between a state and private companies," Edmondson said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.

"The U.S. Supreme Court has already rejected his argument that the Compact Commission is the proper venue for this lawsuit," Edmondson said.

Matt DeCample, a spokesman for Beebe, said Edmondson's comments about the Supreme Court were wrong.

"The Supreme Court did not reject our argument; they merely declined to take up the case. They did not rule on the merits at all," DeCample said.

Oklahoma's suit cites both federal and state laws in its case against the poultry companies.

Beebe said Oklahoma can't use its laws against Arkansas farmers.

Edmondson has attacked Beebe's intentions on a number of occasions, claiming Beebe is trying to curry favor with big poultry companies. Beebe has accused Edmondson of filing the suit to get a big monetary settlement.

Edmondson in Tuesday's release said Beebe's race for governor appears to have taken precedence over his legal judgment in the case.

"Attorney General Edmondson can say that over and over as much as he wants, but that doesn't mean it's true, because it's not," DeCample said Tuesday afternoon.

Beebe said he was not interested in defending the poultry companies, but in defending the state of Arkansas and the individual farmers who are likely to be most affected by the lawsuit.

The Arkansas Farm Bureau, poultry companies and farmers voiced their support for Beebe's action Tuesday.

"We agree with the need for someone to stand up for the poultry grower," said Steve Eddington, a spokesman for the Arkansas Farm Bureau. "Attorney General Edmondson is trying to say he's suing the poultry companies, but the people impacted are the poultry growers themselves," Eddington said.

Washington County Judge Jerry Hunton has a family farm raising poultry in the area. He said he supported Beebe's decision.

"I can't emphasize to you how worried a lot of these farmers are. These are people who owe a whole lot of money, who get up everyday to do work that many people wouldn't do, and provide a product that is cheap, whether you buy it at Wal-Mart or Harps or wherever," Hunton said.

Some environmental groups on the Oklahoma side of the line have been vocal in their support of Edmondson's lawsuit over the past year.

Several environmental groups in Northwest Arkansas have joined the Illinois River Watershed Partnership to work toward solutions outside a courtroom.

"Lawsuits are expensive and bloody and are often not very satisfying to anybody concerned," said Ken Smith, executive director of Audubon Arkansas.