NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — A candidate for Oklahoma attorney general on Wednesday said his Republican opponent should have refused campaign money from people associated with Arkansas poultry companies.
Several of the firms are involved in a federal court lawsuit brought by Oklahoma officials over the companies’ use of poultry waste as fertilizer.
“It creates the appearance of impropriety,” said Jim Priest, a Democrat who faces Scott Pruitt in the race for attorney general. “You are taking money from entities that you are adverse to if you are elected attorney general.”
Priest plans to outline his concerns during a news conference at 11 a.m. today at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. He said he’ll compare the sources of his own political contributions with those of Pruitt.
Priest said he’ll tell how $60,000, or about 10 percent of Pruitt’s campaign contributions this year, came from people associated with Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale, Simmons Foods of Siloam Springs, George’s Inc. of Springdale and other businesses working closelywith the Arkansas poultry industry.
“[Pruitt] should have done what our campaign did and said, ‘We aren’t taking money from poultry people,’” Priest said.
Marvin Childers, president of The Poultry Federation in Little Rock, said it “would be irresponsible not to be involved in the political process” in Oklahoma. The organization represents poultry companies in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
“I contributed to Scott Pruitt’s campaign, as did several poultry company execu-tives, because of the presence our industry has in the state of Oklahoma,” Childers said. “Absolutely no request was made of Mr. Pruitt with regard to the pending litigation, or any legislative or regulatory matter in the state.”
Tyler Laughlin, Pruitt’s campaign manager, didn’t return a telephone message on Wednesday afternoon.
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson in 2005 sued Tyson Foods and other poultry companies in U.S. District Court in Tulsa, claiming the companies are polluting the Illinois River watershed with bird manure used to fertilize crops.
Edmondson blames the companies for the spreading of chicken and turkey manure on hay crops in the watershed, which includes portions of Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas. Edmondson claims the manure leached into the Illinois River and its tributaries, degrading water quality.
A 50-day trial on Edmondson’s claims that the companies use of the manure violated state and federal laws ended in February. U.S.District Judge Greg Frizzell hasn’t issued a ruling.
Contributors to Priest’s campaign include Edmondson, who gave $100 during the Aug. 10-Oct. 18 campaign-finance disclosure period, according to records kept by the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.
The Pruitt contributors and the amounts listed in a separate Ethics Commission report included: Charles George, senior vice president of George’s Inc., $3,000; Don Tyson, former president of Tyson Foods, $2,500; his daughter Carla Tyson, $2,500; Jim Blair, former Tyson Foods general counsel, $2,500; Leland Tollett, retired chairman of Tyson Foods, $1,000; Bassett Law Firm, which represented George’s Inc. during the federal trial, $1,000; and Mark Simmons, chairman of Simmons Foods, $1,000.
Other Pruitt donors include Donnie Smith, president and chief executive officer of Tyson Foods, $500; Buddy Wray, executive vice president of Tyson Foods, $500; Archie Schaffer III, executive vice president of Tyson Foods, $250; David Van Bebber, Tyson Foods general counsel, $250; and Childers, $250.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 10/28/2010