Save the Illinois River, Inc.
24369 E 757 Rd.
Tahlequah, OK 74464-1949
(918) 284-9440

Say NO to Senate Bill 1742

Save the Illinois River, Inc. | News | January 16, 2020

ACTION ALERT!---BAD BILL NEEDS YOUR ATTENTION QUICKLY



PLEASE TELL YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE TO VOTE NO ON SENATE BILL 1742. PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL TODAY.  PLEASE DON'T WAIT. SB 1742 appears to prevent citizens from protesting Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) groundwater permits, the type of permits that have been given to mega poultry farms in Delaware County and in the Illinois River watershed. Your phone calls and email messages to your State Representatives are needed to stop SB 1742


Find your State Representative Here


Save the Illinois River, Inc., (STIR) is very concerned about SB1742 dealing with Oklahoma Water Resources Board water permitting.  SB1742 appears to make it more difficult for private property owners to protest water permits granted by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. Oklahoma agencies should not make public participation in government and protection of private property more difficult by imposing more restrictions on who may protest. Please note the recent court decision in Delaware County that was highly critical of the ORB's use of provisional temporary permits to take ground water.  The OWRB has granted temporary provisional permits to poultry growers in a serial fashion without regard to private property owner’s objections and has failed to work cooperatively with other agencies to prevent water pollution by chicken farms in the court’s opinion.

 

SB 1742 may be unconstitutional in that it appears to only allow homeowners within one-quarter of a mile of a proposed water well to protest the application for the well.  Water wells drilled for huge poultry raising operations deplete the groundwater reserves for a very wide area, certainly more than one-quarter of a mile from an applicant poultry farm. Oklahoma citizens deserve due process for the application of the laws that regulate them.  Due process may be denied citizens if SB1742 is approved by the Oklahoma House of Representatives.  The judge in the Delaware County lawsuit held that this is the current case in OWRB temporary provision permits to poultry farms. Further damage to private water wells and to the waters of the State may occur if SB1742 is passed by the legislature.


Please do all you can to defeat SB1742 or amend the bill in order to give citizens the power to protest OWRB water permit decisions.



Sincerely,

Denise Deason-Toyne

President, Save the Illinois River, Inc.