News Release
11/14/2007
W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General
State Seeks to Halt Litter Application
Citing an “imminent and substantial endangerment” to public health, the State of Oklahoma today asked a federal judge to prohibit any further land application of poultry waste in the Illinois River Watershed (IRW).
Showing a “direct path from the place of poultry waste disposal to the locations...where contamination is found,” the state presented evidence that the poultry companies’ reckless waste dumping methods are contributing to high levels of bacteria in the waters of the state.
“We can show that fecal bacteria in poultry waste is reaching the surface water and groundwater,” Edmondson said. “Scientists found areas where the bacterial counts in runoff water from poultry waste disposal fields were similar to those found in raw, untreated human sewage. These bacteria can cause a myriad of gastrointestinal illnesses and infections through ingestion and skin contact. We need the court to stop the dumping of waste to protect public health and the safety of the state’s water resources.”
In 2005, the State of Oklahoma, through Edmondson and Secretary of the Environment Miles Tolbert, sued several out-of-state poultry companies for the pollution caused by the improper land application and storage of hundreds of thousands of tons of poultry waste. The state accuses the companies of knowingly violating numerous state and federal environmental laws with their careless waste-dumping methods.
It is estimated that about 347,000 tons of bacteria-laden poultry waste is generated in the watershed every year, and the majority of that waste dumped in the watershed. Water sampling has discovered E. coli, as well as fecal coliforms and enterococci which are bacterial indicators of salmonella, campylobacter and staphylococcus. Exposure to fecal pathogens can also cause gastroenteritis, cholecystitis, pancretitis, peritonitis, massive gastrointestinal hemorrhage, infections of the urinary tract, blood, respiratory tract and central nervous system, boils, cellulitis, impetigo and serious wound infections, according to the state’s expert.
Because these bacteria have been found in samples from the area’s wells, springs and recreational streams, including the Illinois River, the state claims that land application of poultry waste should be halted.
According to the state’s motion, “the fecal bacterial levels in runoff from fields where poultry waste has been applied are similar to raw sewage. There are eight water bodies within the Oklahoma portion of the IRW that have been listed as impaired for primary body contact recreation by the State because of bacteria associated with poultry waste. Oklahoma water quality standards have been exceeded for bacteria in at least 18 different IRW locations.”
“The Oklahoma Water Resources Board documents 1,717 water wells in the Oklahoma portion of the watershed, and 98 percent of these wells are used for drinking water and other household purposes,” Edmondson said. “Tests have found bacterial contamination, including E. coli, in many shallow wells, and bacterial levels of human health significance have been found in a number of springs.”
Edmondson said the state is seeking the injunction now so the court will have time to rule on the issue before the winter and spring waste disposal seasons expose even more of these harmful bacteria to the water people drink and streams in which they play.
Scientific sampling has discovered a “unique chemical and bacterial signature” that indicates contamination by poultry waste. According to scientists, this signature has been found in the soil at the waste disposal fields and in runoff water from those fields. It has been found in streams, rivers, springs and groundwater. It has been found in the water in Tenkiller Lake and in sediments from the lake, streams and rivers. But, experts say, the signature is not found in samples collected from streams and rivers in areas with no poultry waste disposal.
“This signature helps us determine that the dangerous bacteria come from poultry waste,” Edmondson said. “We can protect public health by stopping the bacteria from reaching the water, so we’re asking the court to stop further land application of poultry waste.”
The attorney general hopes the court will rule on the issue quickly, as an expert found around 70 percent of poultry waste land application in the watershed occurs during the first six months of the year, with almost half of the total application occurring from March to June. These disposal times correspond with or proceed the most likely times for heavy rains and heavy recreational use of the waters.
Without regard for the dangers, Edmondson said the companies are practicing waste disposal on an industrial scale. The state estimates that almost 700,000,000 pounds of poultry waste is generated every year in the watershed, most of which is also dumped in the watershed.
“Heedless of the health and environmental consequences, the companies keep dumping this bacteria-laden waste on the ground and the rains carry it to the river,” Edmondson said. “This bacteria gets in the water people drink and the water in which they play. The danger is imminent and the time to head it off is now.”
