Water quality meeting results termed "positive"
by Mitch Ballard
Grove Daily News July 30, 1997
A classroom at the Kansas Vo-Tech was packed Tuesday night with area citizens concerned about water quality issues during a public forum sponsored by the Spring Creek Coalition.
Three speakers talked about the corporate poultry industry, providing background information, as well as how to get organized and let their voices be heard at the State Capitol.
One significant item thoroughly discussed was poultry manure/litter testing and its land application as an agricultural fertilizer.
A spokesman for Simmons Foods and member of the Oklahoma Broiler Council, Claude Rutherford, as well as OSU Extension Area Poultry Specialist James "Jim" Britton, Ph.D. both acknowledged "most of the litter is not being tested right now," even though $10,000 was recently acquired by the Natural Resource Conservation Service to be used for litter and soil testing in efforts through its Best Management Practices at reducing the nutrient loading of watersheds in Delaware County.
Another point worth noting from the meeting is the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture recently established a Water Quality Division, specifically designed to oversee the licensing and regulation of Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs).
However, House Bill 1522, which recently passed, and signed by Gov. Keating, (co-authored by Rep. Joe Hutchinson) does not cover broiler poultry houses in Oklahoma by CAFO dfinition, since the manure/liter is less than 40 percent moisture. Those specific guidelines and enforcement regulations do not apply to most of the corporate poultry industry in Green Country.
Jennifer Owen of the Spring Creek Coalition said she was happy with the results of the meeting.
"We're very pleased and feel like we've turned the corner toward positive action in pulling together all entitities for managing the situation," Owen said.
"The real way to resolve this issue of water quality is if we all work together...it's positive, but slow," she said.
"We're seeking a lot of new activisim from the public and hope to join forces with the other environmental groups in the region and let the Governor's Task Force hear our concerns when they come to this part of the state next month," she said.
