CONTACT: Ed Brocksmitht

(918) 456-3407, brocksmi@intellex.com

2/15/08

GROUP WARNS OF RIVER CLOSING IF INJUNCTION NOT GRANTED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TAHLEQUAH— The issue of poultry waste threatening public recreation on the Illinois River is critical for the tourism industry that supports Tahlequah and Lake Tenkiller communities. Despite the rhetoric and the public relations campaign of out of state poultry companies, the scientific results will be presented and subjected to vigorous cross-examination.

Finally, after nearly three years of litigation, discovery, and investigation, the public will hear the scientific evidence and testimony concerning the dangers and the benefits of poultry waste as a fertilizer. It will be up to U.S. Federal District Court Judge Greg Frizzell to decide if there is an imminent threat to public health from fecal bacteria in the poultry waste entering the Illinois River and if so, whether the danger outweighs the benefits derived from the use of poultry waste as fertilizer.

Save the Illinois River, Inc., STIR, stands with the State of Oklahoma in seeking injunctive remedy that will help determine if the Illinois River will ever truly be an Oklahoma Scenic River. All Oklahomans need to realize that if excess poultry waste is not managed correctly, we just might see the Illinois closed to recreation because of dangerous bacteria.

STIR is a not-for-profit citizen’s coalition chartered to protect the Illinois River, its tributaries, and Tenkiller Lake. It is based in Tahlequah and can be reached at www.illinoisriver.org

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