If I had to describe my main priority as your attorney general, it boils down to this: I fight every day to do what's right for the people of Oklahoma. That holds true now more than ever in the fight over poultry litter pollution along the Illinois River Watershed. For nearly 20 years, Oklahoma has been battling out-of-state Big Poultry companies. These corporations want you to believe that cleaning up their mess means destroying jobs and hurting our economy.
That is simply not true.
Big Poultry companies are playing politics and putting profits above people. Clean water and a thriving poultry industry can—and must—coexist. The idea that Oklahomans must sacrifice one for the other is a cynical narrative designed to scare growers and communities while shielding powerful corporations from accountability.
Let's be clear about who we are talking about. This is not a struggling industry. One of these companies alone reported $474 million in profits last year. Big Poultry is a highly profitable, multistate corporate operation that can afford to do the right thing and has chosen not to do so.
Poultry is undeniably a critical part of Oklahoma's economy. It supports tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, and everyone, me included, wants this industry to remain strong and sustainable for generations. But it is absurd to suggest that the only way poultry can survive is at the cost of algae-choked rivers and dead fish.
Only days after I took office in 2023, U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell issued a ruling in a lawsuit that Oklahoma filed back in 2005. The court found that excess phosphorus polluting the Illinois River Watershed was caused by chicken waste and ordered the companies and my office to negotiate a solution.
Despite months of negotiations, out-of-state Big Poultry refused to meaningfully engage.
The responsibility here is clear. These companies, not individual growers, designed, controlled and profited from a system that mishandled poultry waste for decades. They failed to act, even as they knew the damage being inflicted year after year on Oklahoma's soil and water.
A six-day evidentiary hearing in late 2024 confirmed what Oklahomans have long known: the problem has not materially improved. The Illinois River Watershed remains heavily contaminated by excess phosphorus from poultry litter, which also contains arsenic and harmful bacteria. The pollution persists.
On Dec. 19, 2025, the federal court issued a sweeping judgment. A special master will be appointed to oversee cleanup efforts for at least 30 years, funded by Big Poultry through an evergreen cleanup fund with a starting balance of $10 million. Notably, the judgment requires out-of-state Big Poultry—not growers—to bear these costs.
That ruling does not have to be the final word. I fervently believe a fair settlement agreement is within our reach—one that provides certainty, flexibility and real environmental progress. The companies can appeal, or they can come to the table and work with the State on a responsible, long-term solution.
Starting right now, however, out-of-state Big Poultry must stop peddling the fiction that Oklahoma must choose between clean water and economic opportunity. That is a false choice. Our people deserve better.
We deserve clean rivers, respect for the rule of law and corporations that take responsibility for their actions. I will continue fighting to protect Oklahoma’s land, water and way of life.
