Geology expert J. Berton Fisher has given extensive testimony for Oklahoma about poultry
waste and its application in the Illinois River watershed. The expert's firm has spent about five years
gathering data on pollution in the watershed, testified that the
poultry companies sued by Oklahoma in 2005 have polluted surface water,
ground water, soil and sediment.
The state is suing 11 poultry companies, saying they are legally responsible for the handling and disposal of poultry waste — also known as litter — that the state says has damaged the watershed. During his testimony before U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell in Tulsa, Fisher discussed the phosphorus, copper, zinc and arsenic that the state asserts are contaminants in the watershed that can be traced to the poultry industry.
On Wednesday, Fisher repeated his assertion that the chemical composition of poultry waste — including its high concentrations of phosphorus, copper, zinc and arsenic — is distinct from that of cattle waste in the area. Defense attorneys tried to establish on cross examination that Fisher's emphasis on those four substances as a sort of "fingerprint" of poultry waste has not been replicated to any extent by other scientists.
Excerpted from tulsaworld.com.
The state is suing 11 poultry companies, saying they are legally responsible for the handling and disposal of poultry waste — also known as litter — that the state says has damaged the watershed. During his testimony before U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell in Tulsa, Fisher discussed the phosphorus, copper, zinc and arsenic that the state asserts are contaminants in the watershed that can be traced to the poultry industry.
On Wednesday, Fisher repeated his assertion that the chemical composition of poultry waste — including its high concentrations of phosphorus, copper, zinc and arsenic — is distinct from that of cattle waste in the area. Defense attorneys tried to establish on cross examination that Fisher's emphasis on those four substances as a sort of "fingerprint" of poultry waste has not been replicated to any extent by other scientists.
Excerpted from tulsaworld.com.
