Oklahoma Grand: Problems from Poultry
By Earl Hatley,
Grand Riverkeeper
Less than ten years ago the streams feeding the upper Grand River watershed, in Northeast Oklahoma, were clear visible rocky bottoms. But the explosion of industry chicken operations in the region has changed all that. Formerly clear streams now run dark with animal waste containing nutrients, bacteria and antibiotics.

Industrial poultry facilities raise thousands of animals packed together in sheds. They generate huge concentrations of waste that they dispose of by spreading on fields. On a sustainable farm, returning manure to the land is the key to circulating nutrients. In an industrial meat factory, the amount of waste applied to surrounding land quickly overwhelms the natural system. Waste is spread on fields simply to wash into nearby streams with the next rainfall.

Today, these streams are green and milky. Earl Hatley, Grand Riverkeeper, says, “When you are able to see the bottom, the rocks and bottom are covered with thick green algae. The oxygen levels are so low that fishermen complain that fish caught on a trot line die before they can get to the shore.” After a recent release of poultry waste from a facility across the border in Missouri, Hatley went to sample the nearby Elk River, “I didn’t need monitoring equipment to find the problem, the overwhelming smell made it clear what was in the water.”

In recent months, the Grand Riverkeeper has been working with local citizens to block attempts by MOARK (partly owned by Land O’Lakes) from establishing an industrial sized egg-laying and processing facility in the watershed. The MOARK proposal would establish a 3.2 million hen egg-laying facility, producing 640,000 pounds of manure per day. It would take several thousand acres to safely absorb that amount of manure.

The contaminants in the runoff impacting the upper Grand River watershed is due in part to the desire for cheap agricultural products that do not bear the additional costs of sound environmental protection. How much more are we willing to pay to ensure not only that we can enjoy our streams and lakes, but that we have safe drinking water? As Hatley notes, “In Oklahoma we pay several times that cost now in healthcare and environmental cleanup. The cost of doing business, whether mining or agriculture, should include the cost of cleaning up the mess – if it doesn’t pay, it isn’t good business. And one way or the other, we’re already paying.”