The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has accepted Attorney General Gentner Dummond’s motion to stay the judgment against poultry corporations in light of the settlement he reached with the companies in July. The case will return to district court for the judgment to be released.
In July, Drummond announced a nearly $44 million settlement to resolve Oklahoma’s 21-year lawsuit against six companies over poultry litter pollution in the Illinois River Watershed. Tyson Foods, Cargill, George’s, Peterson Farms, Cal-Maine and Simmons Foods were found liable for the pollution.
“All parties came to the table to find a solution to protect Oklahoma’s water and to provide certainty for our poultry industry,” Drummond said. “The result is a balanced solution that protects our natural resources and supports one of Oklahoma’s most important industries.”
Under the settlement, the defendants will pay $41.67 million to an Environmental Relief Fund for watershed stewardship and litigation costs, pay $420,000 in penalties to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality Revolving Fund, provide a combined $1.9 million Auditor Fund to pay for an independent compliance monitor and progressively reduce how much poultry litter removed from poultry houses each year is applied to land in the watershed.
Read the order.
Key Provisions of the Settlement Order
- Environmental Relief Funding: The poultry companies will pay approximately $41.67 million into an Environmental Relief Fund administered by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission to support long-term watershed remediation, conservation projects, and legal costs.
- Penalties and Independent Monitoring: The defendants must pay $420,000 in penalties to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) and establish a $1.9 million independent Auditor Fund to finance compliance monitoring and annual reporting.
- Phased Litter Application Limits: Over a seven-year timeline, companies and growers must progressively scale down the percentage of poultry litter applied within the watershed:
- Years 1 and 2: No more than 40% of removed litter may be land-applied in the watershed.
- Years 3 and 4: No more than 30%.
- Years 5 through 7: No more than 20%.
- Any litter exported out of the area cannot be dumped into other nutrient-sensitive Oklahoma watersheds.
- Riparian Buffer Support: The poultry companies agree to fund or secure funding for 50% of the cost for qualifying contract growers to install vegetative and riparian filter strips along Lake Tenkiller and designated scenic rivers to catch runoff.
- Grower Protections: The agreement includes provisions prohibiting companies from dropping or refusing to renew contracts with local growers as retaliation for the settlement mandates.
What This Means in Practice
- For Oklahoma Waterways: It establishes an enforceable framework and dedicated funding mechanism to reduce phosphorus loading, curb algae blooms, and protect water quality across Lake Tenkiller and the Illinois River basin.
- For Poultry Producers and Family Farms: It provides long-awaited regulatory certainty after more than two decades of legal limbo, ensuring contract growers have financial backing for required buffer strips and clear rules for litter management without facing sudden disruptions to their contracts.
- For the Legal Dispute: It sets aside previous judicial orders and appeals, bringing final closure to one of the longest and most contentious environmental legal battles in Oklahoma history.
