Poultry Companies Want Record of Negotiation Opened
OKLAHOMA - Throw open the shutters and let the light shine in, said a representative of the poultry companies facing a lawsuit from Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson over pollution in the Illinois River watershed.Edmondson filed the lawsuit in June 2005 against 14 poultry companies for poultry litter applied to fields in the region. Edmondson claims the runoff from the fields is polluting the Illinois River, Lake Tenkiller and other scenic streams in eastern Oklahoma.
On Thursday, Edmondson accused the poultry industries of negotiating in bad faith during those past meetings and forcing his hand with the lawsuit.
Edmondson has chosen to attack the companies with unfounded claims about what happened during settlement talks held in the month’s leading up the lawsuit’s filing, said Janet Wilkerson, a spokeswoman for the companies.
He “has chosen to breach a confidentiality agreement made during the mediation with the industry,” Wilkerson said. “Therefore, the poultry companies are completely willing to release information about what [Attorney] General Edmondson and his contingent fee lawyers demanded and what the companies offered, and we call on [Attorney] General Edmondson to join with us in this full disclosure.”
Source: The Morning News
15 July 2006
1 minute read
