Oklahoma continues to feel the impact from Big Ag’s toxic legacy

In the 1990s and 2000s, as industrial poultry production grew in eastern Oklahoma, chicken litter became increasingly used as fertilizer on area crop farms, leading to complaints that key water systems were being polluted by poultry litter.

The waste leached into nearby waterways, elevating phosphorus levels that then depleted oxygen, caused algae growth, damaged the fish population and strained the nearly 20 utility systems that rely on the Illinois River Watershed for drinking water, according to news outlet Investigate Midwest.

To remediate this now chronic problem, then-Attorney General Drew Edmondson sued in 2005 several large agricultural producers, including Tyson, Cargill, and Simmons Foods, that commonly contract with Oklahoma’s poultry farms. A trial was held in 2009, but it took 14 more years before U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell ruled for the state, agreeing that the poultry companies and more specifically, the litter on poultry farms or litter removed and used for fertilizer on nearby crop farms, were to blame for the high contaminate levels. He also criticized Oklahoma lawmakers for not doing enough to protect rivers and lakes from poultry litter pollution. Subsequently, a court-ordered mediation failed.

A hearing was held in December to assess whether the environmental conditions in the watershed have changed since the original trial and whether the companies’ practices continue to contribute to pollution.

At that hearing multiple witnesses testified that water pollution from chicken litter remains a problem.

“To help reverse the phosphorus pollution in the waters of the (Illinois River Watershed), we have to stop making the problem worse. That means we need to stop the land application of poultry waste,” wrote Gregory Scott, a scientist with the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, in testimony presented to Frizzell. A final order from the judge is still pending.

Rather than taking steps to reign in the clout of the growing poultry industry and protect the public, Oklahoma lawmakers have chosen to further deregulate and shield it from legal attacks. The state now allows large poultry farms to avoid a more restrictive registration process and construct buildings that house thousands of chickens closer to homes and neighborhoods.

In 2023, Oklahoma’s Republican-majority Legislature and governor passed House Bill 2053, which would dismiss a protest against a water-use permit for a farm if the protest is “based solely on the industry or entity applying to use the water.” The legislation’s clear intent, to which even the bill’s author, Republican state Sen. Brent Howard admitted, was to make it harder for people to oppose large poultry operations. Senate Bill 136, which was introduced in the 2025 session and called for a moratorium on these mega factory farms, was killed in committee.

Senate Bill 1424, which was signed into law in 2024, has been the most significant step toward protecting poultry corporations. That legislation now forbids property owners in the Illinois River Watershed, whose lands and surface waterways have been polluted by runoff from poultry litter, from pursuing legal action against contracted poultry growers unless an enforcement action has been taken by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry. The law also provides legal immunity to poultry corporations – the same ones targeted in the 2005 suit – from future lawsuits over pollution caused by chicken waste.

The measure gives Big Ag and its corporate lobbyists license to despoil our natural resources and wreak havoc on our region’s air and waterways. This has the potential to threaten the public health of our communities and the safety of their drinking water. Where water has been contaminated it will require cities and towns that use it to spend more on treatments or seek other water sources.

Critics of this legislation have noted that it only benefits out-of-state companies who profit at the expense of Oklahoma’s rivers and lakes and does not protect Oklahoma farmers.

Nearly all chickens raised in the United States are under production contracts between poultry processors and farmers. Big Ag contracts with farmers can be problematic, potentially leading to unfair terms, reduced farmer autonomy, and increased financial risk for farmers. Over the length of a contract, the buying power of a contract farmer’s wages may shrink by more than 20%.

Lax regulations against industrial poultry farms are a gift to big agribusiness. Since our state lawmakers seem unwilling to serve as a bulwark for our environment and the economic and public health of our rural communities, we may have to depend on the courts.

Judge Frizzell has said he is weighing pollution-control requirements. Since our legislators seem loath to hold Big Ag to account, let’s hope the judge comes through.

Oklahoma Voice (oklahomavoice.com) is an affiliate of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization, supported by grants and donations. Oklahoma Voice provides nonpartisan reporting, and retains full editorial independence.