In what is being considered a victory of sorts for the state, a federal judge in Oklahoma has ruled that excessive poultry litter would be classified as solid, according to claimsjournal.com.
The ruling comes in the wake of Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson's claims that chicken waste runoff was polluting the Illinois River watershed. A trial is set for September 21.
The 12 companies named in Edmondson's lawsuit are Tyson Foods Inc., Tyson Poultry Inc., and Tyson Chicken Inc., Cobb-Vantress Inc., Cal-Maine Foods Inc., Cal-Maine Farms Inc., Cargill Inc., Cargill Turkey Production LLC, George's Inc., George's Farms Inc., Peterson Farms Inc., and Simmons Foods Inc.
In a similar development, the state scored a win when the judge upheld an agreement between it and Springfield, Mo.-based Willow Brook Foods Inc., ordering that the company pay $120,000 to settle its portion of the case. The now-defunct company was the 13th defendant named in the lawsuit.
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