The collections were expected to begin Friday, but attorneys for farmers in northeast Oklahoma filed three motions asking a federal judge in Tulsa to ban testing.

In March, Magistrate Sam Joyner gave Attorney General Drew Edmondson permission to issue subpoenas for testing. Joyner will rule on the motion to ban the testing.

Edmondson in April issued about two dozen subpoenas to collect samples. The subpoenas required landowners, many of whom raise chickens for companies sued by the attorney general, to allow investigators to collect soil samples, rainfall runoff samples and groundwater samples.

Farmers have concerns
Janet Wilkerson, spokeswoman for the poultry industry and a vice president for Peterson Farms in Decatur, Ark., said Edmondson's subpoenas did not tell farmers what their land would be tested for. She said farmers are concerned that testing would threaten biosecurity.

"If Edmondson wants to run all over private property in his attack on the poultry industry, those private property owners should be given an opportunity to voice their concerns," Wilkerson said.

In June, Edmondson sued 14 poultry companies he said were polluting state watersheds. He said chicken litter applied as fertilizer by farmers is polluting water.

Edmondson has said any attempt to delay the discovery process would be inconsistent with the industry's claim that it isn't responsible for pollution. Emily Lang, spokeswoman for Edmondson's office, said she still hopes a judge will allow testing in time for the rainy season.

"We think it's a vital issue for public health that we be allowed to conduct testing during the season of the highest waste disposal and highest rainfall," she said.