Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson didn't have the authority to strike a deal with the Cherokee Nation regarding the Illinois River watershed, poultry companies claimed Thursday during a hearing in Tulsa.
Judge Greg Frizzell made no ruling on the companies' request that the U.S. District Court throw out Edmondson's agreement with the Tahlequah, Okla.-based tribe.
The May 19 agreement discussed in court Thursday is an aspect of the federal lawsuit filed in 2005 by Edmondson against Springdale-based Tyson Foods and seven other poultry companies operating in the watershed. Edmondson accuses the companies of polluting the watershed with chicken and turkey manure that's spread on fields to fertilize crops.
The agreement with Edmondson acknowledged the Cherokee Nation's "substantial interests in lands, water and other natural resources located within the Illinois River watershed." It permitted Edmondson to pursue the lawsuit without the Cherokee Nation's involvement.
Edmondson in a telephone interview described the poultry companies' complaints about the agreement as "gamesmanship."
"Don't kid yourself," Ed- mondson said. "The companies aren't trying to protect the Cherokee's interests in this case. They are in court to protect themselves."
It became clear that there is an unwritten, financial component to the pact, people in attendance at the hearing said.
An attorney working for Edmondson told Frizzell that the state and Cherokees agreed to decide later how they'll divide money if the court decides the companies must pay damages.
"If there's a judgment, we'll figure out those interests," said Mike Miller, a Cherokee Nation spokesman. "That's not foremost in our mind. The key for us is environmental quality."
In a June 5 interview, Diane Hammons, the Cherokee Nation's attorney general, said she exchanged at least six versions of the agreement with Edmondson's office.
Money was never a key issue, she said.
"It's the first time the state of Oklahoma has ever acknowledged significant albeit unadjudicated interests in the water," Hammons said. "They (the poultry companies) don't like it and they've asked us bluntly, 'Is there a side deal?' And we told them there is no side deal."
The poultry companies contend Oklahoma state law forbids Edmondson's deal with the Cherokee Nation.
Part of Oklahoma State Statute Title 74, Chapter 35A gives the governor or his designee permission to negotiate agreements with federally recognized Indian tribes. Those deals must be approved by the state legislature's Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations, the statute shows.
The same state statute says cooperative agreements regarding surface or groundwater "shall become effective only upon the consent of the state legislature authorizing such cooperative agreements."
Edmondson said his agreement doesn't require either group's approval. Most of the joint committee's reviews involve law enforcement crossdeputization agreements between tribes and cities, casino gaming, and tobacco and motor fuel sales compacts between tribes and the state.
Rep. Paul Wesselhoft, RMoore, the joint committee's chairman, was unaware of Edmondson's deal when contacted about it last month. After consulting with Edmondson's office and Oklahoma Speaker of the House Chris Benge, R-Sand Springs, Wesselhoft said he sees no reason for the committee's review.
"If it was something the legislature was in strong disagreement about, we'd push our case for hearing this, but it's not something we feel compelled to do so we're not going to take that course of action," Wesselhoft said at the time.
Frizzell also suggested on Thursday that he's unlikely to delay the Sept. 21 trial. The companies on Tuesday asked the court for a delay, saying they need more time to study hundreds of pages of expert testimony in the case. Frizzell made no ruling, however.
"The judge said he wanted to hold on that date if humanly possible," Edmondson said. "Unless something earth-shattering happens, he's going to hold us to that trial date. We're pleased with that."
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