It’s been about two years since a federal judge ruled on a decades-spanning lawsuit that Arkansas-based poultry companies are responsible for polluting the Illinois River and Lake Tenkiller. The judge ruled in Oklahoma’s favor and instructed the parties to reach a clean up agreement. That hasn’t happened.
Since the ruling, there’s been some back-and-forth between the parties. Attorney General Gentner Drummond has suggested each company pay millions of dollars in fines for violating Oklahoma’s limits on phosphorus in soil, but the companies’ attorneys have argued the large fines on the industry would harm the public interest.
Last week, Drummond said in a press release local officials and lawmakers pressured him about abandoning or scaling back litigation following warnings from Tyson Foods about potential reductions in the company’s Oklahoma operations. Tyson is the largest of the companies involved in the suit…