Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Oklahoman says litter isn’t out fast enough
BY ROBERT J. SMITH
June 15, 2008
Five poultry companies in Arkansas promised to haul 202, 500 tons of litter away from Oklahoma’s scenic river watersheds.
They’ll have that threeyear goal met by August, but Oklahoma Secretary of Environment Miles Tolbert doesn’t believe they’re moving as much litter as they claim. He’s not impressed with the volume, either, saying the companies produce 350, 000 tons every year in the Illinois River watershed.
“So, that’s more than 1 million tons in three years, and they say they are moving 200, 000 tons,” Tolbert said. “It’s good to move all the litter you can, but 20 percent of it, even if that’s how much they move, isn’t going to solve the problem.” BMPs Inc., a nonprofit corporation created in 2003 by five poultry firms to coordinate the shipments, is within 15, 000 tons of its goal meant to keep poultry litter off farm fields in Oklahoma scenic river watersheds, said BMPs Executive Director Sheri Herron.
Oklahoma’s doubts about Fayetteville-based BMPs go back to last year when the state asked the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General to audit the company. Tolbert declined to say what caused Oklahoma to request the audit of BMPs.
“Our confidence in BMPs record-keeping is something less than 100 percent,” Tolbert said. “The EPA is looking into it and has asked us not to say any more about it.” BMPs was formed by Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale, Peterson Farms Inc. of Decatur, George’s Inc. of Springdale, Simmons Foods Inc. of Siloam Springs and Minneapolis-based Cargill Inc.
John Manibusan, a spokesman for the Office of Inspector General, said it was the agency’s policy not to comment on its work.
Fayetteville lawyer John Elrod, who represents BMPs, said the nonprofit company welcomed the audit.
“The books are wide open,” Elrod said.
The goal of BMPs and two state agencies that set up subsidized litter transportation programs is to protect Oklahoma’s scenic rivers and Arkansas’ nutrient-sensitive watersheds.
The Illinois River watershed, which is protected in both states, is the subject of a federal lawsuit filed in 2005 against eight poultry companies — including the five that formed BMPs — by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson.
Edmondson accused the companies of polluting the watershed with poultry litter, which is wood chips or rice hulls soiled by bird manure that’s used to fertilize crops. He declined comment.
Only a portion of the litter that’s moved away from the watershed is tracked by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, which set up the federally funded programs to subsidize transportation. Some litter moves between farms and out of the watershed without involving either state agency.
Herron, who wouldn’t agree to an interview because she said she was busy, wrote in an e-mail that she’s kept weigh-scale tickets for every load carried out of the watersheds and uses an accounting program to track the movement.
“We’ve increased the amount significantly in the past year due to increased demand,” Herron wrote. “The majority from the Illinois River watershed still goes into Oklahoma because the crop farmers are significantly closer than those in Arkansas.” Dan Butler, the water quality division director for the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, said it will be years before litter shipments make a noticeable difference in water quality. Edmondson is seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent poultry litter spreading on all farm fields in the Illinois River watershed.
“If they stopped applying litter in the watershed today, it would probably be 10 to 15 years before we’d see significant differences,” Butler said. “We think we’d see a positive trend in five to 10 years.” Records kept by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission show how much federal and state money subsidizes the litter transportation.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2004, the Arkansas commission oversaw a program that used $ 500, 000 in federal money and $ 333, 000 from the poultry companies to move 105, 000 tons of poultry litter out of the Illinois River watershed in 39 months.
Most of it was trucked to Randolph and Lawrence counties in northeast Arkansas or into Oklahoma, said Tony Ramick, the Arkansas commission’s non-point source management program supervisor.
That program ended when the federal money was exhausted in March.
The state Legislature put up $ 250, 000 to keep a poultry litter shipment subsidy. Under that new program started eight months ago, 11, 826 tons has moved.
Most of that litter has been trucked off by BMPs and Precision Ag Services Inc. The subsidy provides 5 cents per ton per mile for the litter that’s hauled, up to a maximum of 300 miles.
Frank Ellis, who owns Precision Ag Services in Maynard, said two trucks a day leave northeast Arkansas with a load of corn. They travel 243 miles to a George’s feed mill in Springdale.
On the trip home, the trucks carry poultry litter that will be used to fertilize hay, corn, wheat, soybean and rice fields near Maynard and Pocahontas. Farmers pay $ 38 a ton for the litter, Ellis said.
The Oklahoma program in three years spent a $ 480, 000 federal grant to subsidize litter transportation. The commission paid 5 cents per mile per ton up to 160 miles.
Mile Thralls, the commission’s director, said the state is seeking an additional $ 300, 000 to subsidize a new program, but the EPA hasn’t said whether it will fund the request. It’s likely that the payment will be reduced to 3 cents per ton per mile, Thralls said.
The Oklahoma program has moved 19, 390 tons out of the Illinois River watershed and 27, 912 tons away from the Eucha-Spavinaw watershed since Sept. 15.
Ed Fite, the director of the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission, said he’s pleased to see the litter moving away from the eastern Oklahoma scenic rivers that the commission is charged with protecting.
“I can say without a doubt that more poultry waste is moving further west into Oklahoma,” Fite said. “I can say without a doubt that’s a good thing.”