Oklahoma is requesting a preliminary injunction to stop poultry companies from dropping animal waste in the 1 million-acre watershed. State Attorney General Drew Edmondson maintains that unless the court grants the request by the spring, the fecal bacteria found in the waste could pose a health threat to hundreds of people who visit the river valley each year.

Edmondson told a federal judge Tuesday that waste from the birds is measured in tons and is not processed, treated or diluted but dumped on the land "ostensibly as fertilizer but far in excess of agronomic needs, in the most environmentally and ecologically sensitive watershed in Oklahoma."

The hearing on the injunction is expected to last several days and is part of an Oklahoma lawsuit that accuses Arkansas-based poultry companies of polluting the watershed with chicken litter.