By Associated Press
Tulsa, OK – Expert disputes Okla. watershed pollution study
TULSA, Okla. (AP) An expert scientist says a report developed by the state of Oklahoma showing phosphorous pollution in a sensitive watershed was incomplete, riddled with errors and unreliable.
Scientist Victor Bierman testified Thursday as an expert witness for the Arkansas poultry industry in Tulsa federal court in Oklahoma's lawsuit against the companies.
Bierman centered on a report by state expert Bernard Engel. Engel is a professor who tried to estimate the tons of poultry manure produced in the Illinois River watershed each year.
Bierman told a federal judge that Oklahoma's model "can't tell the difference" between the amount of phosphorous that is realistic and numbers that are completely made up.
Oklahoma sued the industry in 2005; the companies deny wrongdoing.