As has previously been posted on this blog, and reported in other media, the State of Oklahoma is suing chicken processors, alleging that application of chicken litter from chicken houses controlled by the companies has damaged watersheds in Oklahoma.
Rod Smith of Feedstuffs reports that the presiding judge in that case has ruled that one of the State's experts, Auburn professor Robert Taylor, can testify that the poultry companies have known that chicken litter was being over-applied, and that the companies have also known that the over-application of the chicken litter damages watersheds.
The big-picture issue that this case will decide is whether or not chicken litter, and therefore other animal wastes, can be considered "solid waste." Such a designation would make livestock operations subject to the Superfund Act (CERCLA), as well as the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
This case is just another example of our culture's changing views of agriculture.
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