Oklahoma questions Arkansas town about phosphorous pollution

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ State environmental officials say an Arkansas border town is a major source of pollution in Oklahoma's Lake Eucha. <br><br>Jon Craig of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental

Thursday, September 19th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ State environmental officials say an Arkansas border town is a major source of pollution in Oklahoma's Lake Eucha.

Jon Craig of the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality raised questions about the amount of phosphorus discharged by the town of Decatur, Ark. in a letter to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

Craig is seeking a 30-day delay on the town's pollution discharge permit.

Craig's letter states that studies by the Oklahoma Conservation Commission, the Oklahoma Water Resources Board and the city of Tulsa have identified nutrients as causing the degradation of water quality in the Lake Eucha and Spavinaw Creek watershed.

Studies have also identified the City of Decatur's wastewater discharge as a major source of nutrients within the watershed. Estimates show the City of Decatur contributes 25 percent of the total phosphorus entering Lake Eucha, the letter states.

Craig's letter says Decatur has had a history of violating its current permit and on several occasions has discharged ammonia into an already nutrient-overloaded watershed.

Arkansas environmental officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The city of Tulsa sued Arkansas poultry producers in December, seeking a court order prohibiting them from spreading poultry litter on area farmlands.

The suit claims excessive phosphorus, found in chicken waste, and nitrogen are leaching into the Spavinaw and Eucha watersheds, the city's water supplies.

The suit contends the waste can be tracked to chicken companies including the Peterson Farms poultry processing plant in Decatur.

Arkansas-based Simmons Foods offshoot, Prosper Farms, is building 50 broiler houses within about two miles of Beaty Creek, a small stream that feeds into Lake Eucha. Beaty Creek is on the outskirts of Decatur.

Michael Dean, spokesman for the Oklahoma environmental quality office, said the agency received a draft of the proposed permit toward the end of the 30-day comment period.

``If we had received the draft permit earlier, we would have had the opportunity to review the draft and prepare our comments,'' Dean said.