Arkansas fights Oklahoma poultry waste suit

OKLAHOMA - The Arkansas attorney general said Thursday he filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to stop Oklahoma from trying to enforce its laws in Arkansas.

Mike Beebe said a lawsuit filed in June by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson against Arkansas poultry companies is an attempt to impose Oklahoma law on Arkansas.

In a two-step process, Arkansas asked justices for permission to sue Oklahoma and included its complaint that a 35-year-old agreement should be used to settle differences over the quality of rivers the two states share.

Beebe, a Democrat running for Arkansas governor, said the high court will consider whether to hear the suit. If the court takes the case, justices will decide whether an existing pact between the states should be used to settle the dispute, rather than the lawsuit filed in Oklahoma.

"Oklahoma ought to govern what happens in Oklahoma and Arkansas ought to govern what happens in Arkansas," Beebe said in a phone interview.

Edmondson said at a news conference what happens in northwestern Arkansas affects Oklahoma's water quality.

Source: newsok.com
calendar icon 4 November 2005
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