Scientist Testifies About Poultry Industry Boom

JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — Poultry production in the Illinois River watershed multiplied again and again over the past half-century, a scientist testified Thursday in Oklahoma's pollution lawsuit against the Arkansas poultry industry.

Companies went from producing about 12 million birds in 1950 to about 152 million in 2002, said J. Berton Fisher, one of Oklahoma's expert witnesses in its case accusing 11 poultry producers, including Tyson Foods Inc. and Cargill Inc., of polluting the 1 million-acre watershed with bird waste.

Fisher also testified about how the watershed's hills, thin soils and rocky, porous terrain allowed contaminants to seep into streams and groundwater.

For decades, farmers have used chicken litter — the birds' droppings, feathers and bedding — as a cheap fertilizer to grow other crops. The state argues that runoff from those fields contains bacteria that threatens the health of the thousands of people who raft and fish in the watershed each year.

Other states thinking about challenging the way the industry does business are closely watching the case.

In order to estimate the number of chicken houses in the region, Fisher said, Oklahoma hired a dozen off-duty Tulsa police officers to investigate almost 4,000 structures between 2005 and 2007 to determine if they were still being used. Fisher also relied on tax rolls and land records to pinpoint the structures.