U.S. Water News Online
OKLAHOMA CITY -- A state Senate committee passed a bill that classifies animal waste as a non-hazardous substance, an action environmental groups say undermines the attorney general's lawsuit against poultry companies.
The bill, by Sen. Ron Justice, R-Chickasha, was approved on a 7-1 vote in the Senate Rules Committee and now goes to the Senate floor.
Similar bills surfaced last year in the House and Senate but did not pass. They were criticized by Attorney General Drew Edmondson as an attempt to hamper his federal lawsuit against Arkansas poultry companies.
Edmondson's lawsuit says the runoff of phosphorus from chicken litter generated by poultry operations has polluted streams and rivers in northeastern Oklahoma.
Justice said his bill puts all animal manure in the same category as non-hazardous. "Essentially, animal manure is plant nutrients," he said.
Sen. Jim Wilson cast the only vote against Justice's bill.
"Quite frankly, I can't afford to lose my river or my lake," said Wilson, D-Tahlequah, whose district includes the Illinois River, which flows into Lake Tenkiller.
The bill was one of only 10 measures that were passed by the rules panel in two meetings ahead of the deadline for committee action on Senate bills. A total of 232 bills were assigned to the committee.
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