OKLAHOMA (RFD NEWS) — A legal battle that has stretched on for more than two decades over poultry litter pollution in northeastern Oklahoma has officially come to an end.
Oklahoma has reached a nearly $44 million settlement with six poultry companies, resolving a 21-year lawsuit centered on pollution in the Illinois River Watershed. State officials alleged that phosphorus from poultry litter applied to farmland contributed to water quality issues in the watershed.
Under the settlement, the companies will fund watershed conservation projects, pay environmental penalties, support compliance monitoring, and reduce the amount of poultry litter applied within the watershed over the next seven years.
The agreement ends one of the nation’s longest-running agricultural environmental lawsuits and is intended to improve water quality while providing long-term environmental oversight in the region.
