Official: Wrote Memo To Warn Of Dropping's Overuse

JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS

TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A former Arkansas poultry company executive testified Thursday that he wrote a memo in 2005 warning of the environmental dangers of spreading too much chicken waste on farmland in certain areas.

With the testimony of Monty Henderson, the former president of George's Inc., Oklahoma hoped to show that the poultry industry knew about and could have dealt with the problems that came with the excessive waste before the state was forced to file a federal lawsuit.

George's is one of 11 Arkansas companies Oklahoma is suing on claims they're responsible for polluting the Illinois River watershed with tons of chicken waste.

Henderson, who worked for the company since 1994, testified Thursday that he became aware of the potential problems caused by the over-application of the phosphorous-heavy chicken waste in the late 1990s.

His 2005 memo was contained in a company newsletter mailed to all employees and the farmers who raised birds for the company.

It advised that excess litter — or the droppings, feathers and bedding of the birds — should be hauled out of the concentrated areas where poultry is raised, and insisted the problem needed to be solved very soon.