A U. S. District Court judge has spent more than 50 days considering whether to grant a preliminary injunction banning the spreading of poultry litter on farm fields in the Illinois River watershed.
 According to a report in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, many are wondering what’s taking so long.
Farmers, lawyers and other interested parties have been waiting since March 12 to learn whether Judge Greg Frizzell will grant a request from Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson to stop poultry litter spreading.
Edmondson sued eight U.S. poultry companies in 2005. A nine-day hearing was held in Tulsa, OK, at the beginning of the year.
To get the moratorium, Edmondson needs to prove that poultry litter is a threat to human health and can be defined as “solid waste” under federal law.
Recently, he decided to accept testimony from two Oklahoma researchers who spoke in favor of banning poultry litter in the watershed. Read the report in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
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