Oklahoma, Arkansas still differ on water standards

<br> <br>(Undated-AP) -- Arkansas and Oklahoma officials are reporting limited progress during a conference call on water quality issues. <br><br>The states have had a long-running dispute over water quality

Wednesday, August 6th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Undated-AP) -- Arkansas and Oklahoma officials are reporting limited progress during a conference call on water quality issues.

The states have had a long-running dispute over water quality in four of Oklahoma's scenic rivers that also run through Arkansas. The Environmental Protection Agency is mediating.

Officials with the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality held a conference call with the Oklahoma attorney general and an E-P-A administrator yesterday.

The Arkansas department still opposes Oklahoma's limit on the phosphorus concentration permitted in rivers shared by the states.

Arkansas says the limit -- point-037 milligrams per liter -- would harm the booming economy in northwest Arkansas. Oklahoma officials claim phosphorus degrades the rivers and threatens aquatic life.