After four years of annual reports the general public no longer has access to a detailed accounting of how nearly 200,000 tons of waste produced by Oklahoma’s Poultry Feeding Operations is exported or applied on state lands, including sensitive watersheds.
In addition to monitoring ammonia levels in the air, scientists also plan to examine the microbes in the dust that comes from the chicken houses and sampling microbes in nearby residents.
The only requirements for opening a poultry feeding operation is submitting an application to the Oklahoma Department of Food and Forestry with basic information about the operation and paying a $10 application fee.
Though a video of Tuesday’s meeting was initially posted on the Oklahoma Water Resources Board’s Facebook page, the video was later removed from the agency’s page.
Attorneys say the recent ruling by a Delaware County judge opens the door to challenging long-term groundwater permits that have been issued to the large poultry farms in eastern Oklahoma over the last few years.
“The Court concludes that irreparable environmental harm is likely to result through the OWRB permitting the use of water without the agency undertaking any review of the potential adverse consequences of such use,” wrote Delaware County District Judge Barry Denney.
Also on Tuesday, U.S. Senate sent a bill to the President to sign that contains a controversial provision that would remove Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority over flood control issues caused by GRDA’s Pensacola Dam.
The lawsuit comes after a significant increase in poultry operations in eastern Oklahoma — especially in Delaware County — beginning in late 2017 after Simmons Foods announced its plans to build a new poultry processing facility in Gentry, Ark.
