The reported problems with Oklahoma's lakes and the blue-green algae come as no surprise to those of us who have been following the events of the last few years revolving around the chicken industry and the issue of poultry litter. The current CAFO system of producing chickens that has been put in place in Oklahoma and surrounding states is completely unsustainable and has inevitably produced the serious pollution problems we are seeing now.
There was an opportunity to fix the problem when Oklahoma's former Attorney General, Drew Edmondson, decided to file suit against the poultry industry in order to hold them accountable for the pollution they are creating. Unfortunately, the judge in the case took the side of the poultry industry in almost every ruling, even after the AG presented evidence that the pollution could be a threat to human health.
Now we are faced with a situation where recreation facilities that belong to all of us in Oklahoma are becoming unusable. Add to this the economic devastation that is being caused to the businesses that depend on the lakes to attract their customers. In essence, the poultry companies have been permitted to engage in a theft worth hundreds-of-millions, if not billions, of dollars.
The people of Oklahoma should be angry, the poultry industry has taken the rivers and lakes that are the property of the people of Oklahoma and turned them into their own personal chicken toilets. How long will we let this continue before we decide that cheap chicken isn't worth the price?
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