Oklahoma has reached a nearly $44 million settlement with six poultry companies, ending a 21-year lawsuit over poultry litter pollution in the Illinois River Watershed. The agreement resolves claims against Tyson Foods, Cargill, George's, Peterson Farms, Cal-Maine, and Simmons Foods. The companies will fund watershed conservation, pay environmental penalties, finance independent compliance monitoring, and reduce the amount of poultry litter applied within the watershed over the next seven years. They also agreed to help fund vegetative buffer strips and submit to annual compliance audits. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond says, "This agreement allows us to turn the page on a dispute that has gone on for far too long. It protects Oklahoma's water, provides certainty for our poultry industry, and shows that difficult problems can be solved through persistence and good-faith negotiation." The settlement still requires court approval and would replace a December 2025 court judgment once it’s finalized.
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