Masses Of Chicken Shit, Feathers Apparently Contributed To Dip In Illinois River (OK) Recreation

[hatrack]

Ya think?

TULSA, Okla. — About 30,000 fewer people floated in the Illinois River watershed in 2007 compared with two years earlier, a professor testified Tuesday, suggesting that decades of chicken manure pollution may have made one of the state's top recreational areas less attractive to the public. Oklahoma State University professor Lowell Caneday, who has studied the 1 million-acre watershed for decades, also testified he personally witnessed some of the pollution, such as a clump of poultry manure with feathers, straw and other debris, floating down the Illinois River. On one rainy day in 2007, Caneday claimed he saw a farm field spread with so much chicken manure, it appeared to "move" across the road in the storm.

Caneday is a witness in the state of Oklahoma's federal pollution trial against the Arkansas poultry industry. Oklahoma claims 11 companies, including Tyson Foods Inc., the world's largest meat producer, are responsible for mucking up a once-pristine river valley that straddles portions of both states. Tuesday was the 20th day of the trial, which began in September.

Charlie Price, a spokesman for the Oklahoma attorney general's office, said Tuesday the state is hoping to finish its side of the case in the next three to four weeks — a near-guarantee the nonjury trial will stretch into January because the poultry companies still have yet to present their case. On cross-examination Tuesday, poultry company attorneys heatedly disputed Caneday's account of chicken litter floating down the river. Tom Green, an attorney for Tyson, also challenged Caneday's anecdote of seeing the field that appeared to "move" across the road, asking the professor if he actually followed the waste as it traveled from pasture to river. "Logic would tell you it couldn't go anywhere else," Caneday responded.

The companies offered other theories why floaters in the watershed dipped in 2007, such as the high cost of gas and the country's beginning slide into a recession, and Caneday conceded there was no way to say what one factor was causing the decline.

EDIT

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gPY_tB8DlAuNbaTYqfcVzUzDRgzQD9BSVQ800

[Dreamer Tatum]

1. Goddamned disgusting nt

[Warpy]

2. Chicken litter is great for agriculture

and most good backyard chicken growers know it's a great idea to move the chicken run every couple of years because both grass and garden grow so well over the old one.

Unfortunately, if it's done on the surface, the first rain will wash it into whatever river or stream is available.

Tilling it in right after it's spread would help the situation a lot, although it would still exist to some extent.

[Adsos Letter]

5. Unfortunately, the enormous quantities of waste from factory farming make plowing under difficult..

Here is a link to a great PBS FRONTLINE segment on the impact of chicken waste (along with other pollutants) on the Chesapeake ecosystem: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/poisonedwaters/view/

:hi:

[Adsos Letter]

3. Masses of Chicken Shit will quite generally dampen enthusiasm for recreation.

Except for certain farmers in Northern California...

I hope Oklahoma pursues this to the fullest extent, and doles out fines and ENFORCED regulations accordingly.

[XOKCowboy]

4. I floated the Illinois many times back in the70s. Then it was crystal clear..

which was rare for any river in Oklahoma. Total shame.

[formercia]

7. and full of fish.

I took a mask and snorkel on a float trip there in '72. Some of those deep pools were full of huge Bass that would get right in your face using the mouth wide open aggressive posture.
It was right after watching the Movie Deliverance and seeing similar folks fishing on the bank.

We stopped to eat lunch on a sand bar and found a patch of wild Honeydew melons. Someone had discarded some seeds and they had established themselves. It was a feast.

[XOKCowboy]

9. That would be about the time I was there..

It was beautiful. I went to the Barren Fork Boy Scout Camp a couple of times while in high school then afterward graduated (in '72) to more "adult" activities on the river for years afterward. There was no place like it in NE Oklahoma. It's a shame that it's come to this.

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Oklahoma initially sued not only the poultry companies, but the individual farmers along the river,

but just those on the Arkansas side.

[madokie]

8. I remember that was our swimming hole

we floated it every summer but I haven't been in it in 20 or more years now, too nasty.