Attorney General Drew Edmondson’s lawsuit against the poultry industry came as no surprise to the state’s largest farm organization.
“We were convinced from the very beginning of this issue that the attorney general was only interested in a lawsuit with a large monetary settlement,” Steve Kouplen, President of the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, said.
The lawsuit, listing 14 poultry companies including two of the nation’s largest, is attracting national media attention.
“This is about large monetary settlements and not about solving environmental issues. The AG is focused on solving only one portion of the problem and not every contributing entity because of the potential deep pockets of the poultry companies,” Kouplen said..
“A big cash settlement for lawyers will not solve the environmental issues.
Farmers are concerned the AG’s office is spending taxpayers’ funds to attack an Oklahoma industry. In recent weeks they have used state resources to place water quality monitoring devices in Oklahoma and Arkansas for the purpose of gathering information for this lawsuit.
“He is acting unilaterally in a way that could potentially cost thousands of jobs and devastate an important industry to our state.”
Farm Bureau has successfully worked with the state legislature and others to develop solutions to the poultry litter issue. One solution is a $5 per ton tax credit for moving litter out of nutrient limited watersheds, a program which was extended by the state legislature for three more years this past session.
Kouplen said he is concerned the attorney general is preventing Oklahoma from working with Arkansas to develop a joint watershed plan, as called for in the Statement of Joint Principles and Actions signed by both states in December 2003.
“We believe the solutions already exist to solve any dispute over water quality in the state,” Kouplen said, “and therefore a lawsuit is unnecessary.”
