Attorney General Gentner Drummond told reporters last Friday that poultry producers and the state of Oklahoma could find a way to contain and transport phosphorous- laden poultry waste away from sensitive environments.

He said any agreement between the entities likely would not meet a federal judge’s March 17 deadline, however.

The statements came in answer to reporters’ questions at a Tulsa Press Club luncheon Friday.

The issue arose with a lawsuit filed by the State of Oklahoma against major poultry producers in 2005, and U.S. Northern District Court Judge Gregory Frizzell’s decision and findings of fact, issued Jan. 18, shortly after Drummond took office.

Frizzell agreed with nearly every state argument that laid the blame for the majority of phosphorous pollution in the nearly 1 million acres of the scenic Illinois River Drainage and Lake Tenkiller on the doorsteps of the 11 named poultry companies, including Tyson Foods, Cargill, and Simmons Foods.

The judge shifted a multi-faceted, decadeslong conflict into high gear by demanding the state and the industry hammer out an agreement by March 17 or he would issue a ruling of his own.

Drummond essentially said he had three big goals in mind when entered office, and this fourth priority dropped on his office a week later. He said Frizzell’s written decision was thorough and impressive and the issue “big” and “important.”

“The poultry industry and agriculture, in general, is not inconsistent with a clean and robust environment,” he said. “So, with that as a predicate, we need to find a resolution with the poultry industry through which they can continue their good works of evolving and abating the phosphorous level in the Illinois River, and I would broaden that to the Grand River as well,” he said. “We need to find a way that we can not just rehabilitate the watershed but also put structure in place through which we don’t have to have to revisit this in 20 years or 50 years. So, that’s the framework of the negotiations.”

Coming to some kind of agreement on that likely won’t happen before Frizzell’s March 17 deadline. Drummond said he expects the judge will “chastise” the parties on that day and set a new target date.

“But I’m not going to take my eye off that ball,” Drummond said.

Drummond said he invited interested poultry producers to meet at his offices the day after the decision. Representatives of Simmons, Tyson, and others attended and it was an “emotional meeting,” he said.

He said he also consulted with former Attorney General Drew Edmondson, who originally filed the suit and later worked on it pro-bono with environmental groups.

“I told him, Drew you started this, you’ve got all these plaintiffs’ attorneys that want an audience, you talk to them and I’ll talk to you.

“Meanwhile I’ve also met with every single agency that touches the environment or agriculture. So last week was a litany of meetings with executive directors and cabinet secretaries in the various entities so I could better understand what they offer and what their concerns are,” he said.

Drummond is broadening the reach of the suit by also speaking with Cherokee Nation representatives, who were not a party to the suit, and said he has the expectation that any agreement would govern poultry waste handling beyond just the Illinois River Basin.

Asked how negotiations might impact individual farmers, Drummond said the pressure is on the industry.

“The integrators are going to have to provide a mechanism through which we capture the waste, not in chat piles that blow, but in containers that can be then transported,” he said.

Drummond pointed to a situation long discussed among people familiar with the issue, that the state is phosphorous deficient to the west and phosphorous heavy to the east. The material is an excellent fertilizer, but fertilizer companies in the past have said it is not cost-effective to transport the natural fertilizer source long distances.

“There’s a solution dealing with environmentalists, those that are skilled in this area, scientists predominantly,” he said. “We’re going to find a solution through which we can truly take the phosphorous content out of eastern Oklahoma and move it out of the watershed either much further east, or further west.”

He said he has received a first round of proposals from the industry representatives and given a response, all of which is confidential, and that more negotiations are scheduled for mid-week next week.

Kelly Bostian is an independent writer working for the Oklahoma Ecology Project, a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to in-depth reporting about environmental issues for Oklahomans.