{"id":21074,"date":"2014-08-21T08:59:25","date_gmt":"2014-08-21T13:59:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=21074"},"modified":"2014-08-25T09:09:20","modified_gmt":"2014-08-25T14:09:20","slug":"other-states-have-outsize-influence-in-oklahomas-scenic-river-protection-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2014\/08\/21\/other-states-have-outsize-influence-in-oklahomas-scenic-river-protection-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Other States Have Outsized Influence in Oklahoma&#8217;s Scenic River Protection Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_21081\"  class=\"wp-caption module image center\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21081\" alt=\"Bob Deitrick of Owasso stands along the banks of the Upper Illinois River at the Round Hollow public access point north of Tahlequah, Okla. The headwaters of this river are in Arkansas.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/08\/20140818-flint-creek-pics010_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/08\/20140818-flint-creek-pics010_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/08\/20140818-flint-creek-pics010_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/08\/20140818-flint-creek-pics010_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/08\/20140818-flint-creek-pics010_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bob Deitrick of Owasso stands along the banks of the Upper Illinois River at the Round Hollow public access point north of Tahlequah, Okla. The headwaters of this river are in Arkansas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><em>This is part two of StateImpact Oklahoma\u2019s four-part series on the history of Oklahoma\u2019s scenic rivers and the environmental threats they face. Part one is available <a href=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2014\/08\/14\/flaming-waterways-and-death-threats-the-history-of-oklahomas-scenic-rivers\/\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Bob Deitrick checks the snaps on his bright orange life vest, crouches and checks all the gear one last time. The Owasso father\u2019s son and his two friends are behind him, impatiently paddling in circles.<\/p><p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Even amid a swarm of splashing, screaming boys, Deitrick drifts away when he&#8217;s on the water.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;It&#8217;s peaceful, relaxing.&#8221;<\/p><p>But the present tranquility of the Upper Illinois \u2014 and most of the state&#8217;s scenic rivers \u2014 springs from a turbulent history that was fueled by water pollution in other states.<\/p>\n<h4><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_jxV6BbREfY\" height=\"465\" width=\"620\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe> Out-of-state Influence<\/h4><p>First it was Ohio, whose Cuyahoga River was oozing with oily sludge, industrial waste and debris. After <a href=\"http:\/\/clevelandhistorical.org\/items\/show\/63\">the river caught fire<\/a> in 1969, states like Oklahoma started getting serious about water pollution.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The out-of-state influence continued in the 1980s with Arkansas, home of the headwaters for four of Oklahoma&#8217;s Scenic Rivers: Flint Creek, Barren Fork, Big Lee Creek and the Illinois River.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Oklahoma blamed Arkansas for polluting rivers with phosphorus from sewage and fertilizer runoff from chicken farms. In 1986, the state of Oklahoma sued the Arkansas city of Fayetteville to prevent it from discharging into the Illinois River. The case made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which <a href=\"http:\/\/caselaw.lp.findlaw.com\/scripts\/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=503&invol=91\">ruled unanimously in 1992<\/a> that upstream Arkansas had to follow the water quality standards of downstream Oklahoma.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The two states in 1997 agreed on standards to dramatically reduce the amount of phosphorus flowing into Oklahoma\u2019s Lake Tenkiller. And in 2002, Oklahoma adopted the country\u2019s first numerical water quality standard for phosphorus.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_21092\"  class=\"wp-caption module image center\" style=\"max-width: 620px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-21092\" alt=\"Tom Myers, superintendent of the new wastewater treatment plant in Siloam Springs, Ark., holds a sample of treated water that will be discharged into Oklahoma's Flint Creek.\" src=\"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/08\/20140818-flint-creek-pics043_WEB.jpg\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/08\/20140818-flint-creek-pics043_WEB.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/08\/20140818-flint-creek-pics043_WEB-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/08\/20140818-flint-creek-pics043_WEB-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2014\/08\/20140818-flint-creek-pics043_WEB-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Joe Wertz \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Myers, superintendent of the new wastewater treatment plant in Siloam Springs, Ark., holds a sample of treated water that will flow into Oklahoma&#39;s Flint Creek.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h4 dir=\"ltr\">Waste-Watershed<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Compliance with Oklahoma\u2019s water quality rules has been costly for cities and industries in Arkansas that discharge into creeks and streams that flow into the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.epa.gov\/Region6\/water\/npdes\/illinoisriverwatershed\/index.html\">Illinois River watershed<\/a>. Most of the $24 million the City of Siloam Springs recently spent to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.garverusa.com\/markets\/water\/water-design-center\/107\/the-phosphorus-fix-a-year-in-review\/\">upgrade its water treatment plant<\/a>, for example, was to outfit the facility with the high-tech equipment necessary to meet Oklahoma\u2019s strict phosphorus standards, says facility superintendent Tom Myers.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;We&#8217;re only 700 feet from Oklahoma,\u201d he says. Siloam Springs also treats wastewater from local poultry producers Cobb-Vantress and Simmons Foods, and water discharged from a rubber manufacturing plant owned by Gates Corporation. Myers says all three industrial operations have worked with officials to reduce pollutants in wastewater before it reaches the city\u2019s treatment plant.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cWe\u2019re seeing an improvement in water clarity and quality in the Illinois River Basin,\u201d Ed Fite, executive director of the Scenic Rivers Commission told StateImpact in January.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Efforts in Arkansas are having a positive effect, but it will likely take years to understand whether they\u2019ll have a lasting <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cherokeephoenix.org\/18617\/Article.aspx\">positive impact<\/a> on waterways in Oklahoma, he says.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Meanwhile, other regional Oklahoma\/Arkansas water conflicts drag on.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In 2005, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmonson filed a lawsuit against poultry companies over pollution in the Illinois River watershed, but while the trial ended in February 2010, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frizzell still hasn\u2019t issued a ruling.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Also ongoing is the two states\u2019 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tulsaworld.com\/news\/local\/oklahoma-arkansas-agree-on-pact-to-study-illinois-river\/article_d90c3b27-98ed-5554-9ce3-39f14a35ff8a.html\">2013 agreement<\/a> to a third-party study of water quality in the Illinois River, which isn\u2019t due until 2016. Many environmental groups are optimistic about the two-state study, but some, including Ed Brocksmith of the Tahlequah-based group Save the Illinois River, worry it will result in phosphorus limits that are lower than those currently in place in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n<h4>Shared Responsibility<\/h4>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Back at the Rocky Hollow public access point along the Upper Illinois River north of Tahlequah \u2014 60 miles downstream of the Siloam Springs waste treatment plant, Bob Deitrick says he thinks strict water pollution rules are important.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;Obviously for the beauty, keep the stream running clean,\u201d he says. \u201cThese are great places that God created for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">But Deitrick says protecting scenic rivers isn&#8217;t just the responsibility of state government agencies.<\/p><p>Before he pushes off and paddles to catch up with his son, Deitrick bends down and picks up a candy bar wrapper from the gravelly bank. He stuffs it in his pocket before pushing off the gravelly bank and paddling to catch up with his son.<\/p><p><em>Correction: Story updated <em>on Aug. 21, 2014 to show that <\/em>Drew Edmondson was Oklahoma&#8217;s Attorney General when the 2005 poultry lawsuit was filed, not current AG Scott Pruitt.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is part two of StateImpact Oklahoma\u2019s four-part series on the history of Oklahoma\u2019s scenic rivers and the environmental threats they face. Part one is available here. Bob Deitrick checks the snaps on his bright orange life vest, crouches and checks all the gear one last time. The Owasso father\u2019s son and his two friends [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":21092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[491],"tags":[622,587,620,621,427,600],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21074"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21090,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21074\/revisions\/21090"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}