Poultry Litter Case Update

Litter suit’s parties get eager for ruling
BY ROBERT J. SMITH

A U. S. District Court judge has had 50 days to make a decision on granting a preliminary injunction to ban spreading poultry litter on farm fields in the Illinois River watershed, leaving some to wonder what’s taking so long.

Farmers, lawyers and others interested in Judge Greg Frizzell’s decision have waited since March 12 to learn whether he’ll grant Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson’s request to stop spreading the litter.

“Judges sit and listen to Nobel lawyers slug it out all the time,” said Patrick Patenteau, senior counsel at the Environment and Natural Resources Law Clinic at the Vermont Law School, who uses the complex debate over the Illinois River issue to teach students about interstate waterquality disputes. “At the end of the day, judges have to decide who to believe. Read More

Here is an update on the poultry litter case that was brought on by OK Attorney General Edmondson. He wants the court to declare that poultry litter is solid waste, and banned from being used as fertilizer in the watershed area. He also knows that if the poultry farmers can’t get rid of their litter that they may be forced to close down, and that seems to be his goal.