TULSA, Okla.—The state health department said Tuesday it was “disheartening” to hear comments from Attorney General Drew Edmondson claiming the agency “botched” its probe into an unsolved E. coli outbreak that killed one man and sickened hundreds more.
Edmondson’s remarks, made Monday to the Tulsa World, came weeks after he suggested that the deadly August outbreak at the popular Country Cottage eatery in Locust Grove might have been caused by pollution from nearby poultry farms.
He alleged that the health department publicly said the well at the buffet-style restaurant was not the source of the rare E. coli O111 strain, but told other officials in several meetings that it was the source.
Leslea Bennett-Webb, a spokeswoman for the health department, said Tuesday that its final report on the investigation would show that her department “went to extraordinary efforts, using all available known science regarding E. coli O111, to determine the exact mode of transmission of the bacteria in the restaurant.
“While comments to the contrary are disheartening, we are continuing our efforts to focus on the job of putting finishing touches on our investigation’s final report and issuing it for public review,” she said in a statement.
Last month, Edmondson released a report concluding that the well at the Country Cottage “is, and has been, contaminated with poultry waste and associated bacteria, including E. coli.” His report also noted 49 poultry houses within a six-mile radius of Locust Grove that have the capacity to produce 10,000 tons of waste a year.
The poultry industry has repeatedly denied these claims.
Edmondson is suing 13 Arkansas poultry companies in federal court, claiming that over-application of chicken waste in the 1 million-acre Illinois River watershed could be a danger to public health.
On Wednesday, Edmondson is due at the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, arguing his appeal of a judge’s order refusing to stop poultry companies from disposing of bird waste in the watershed.
The larger pollution lawsuit is set for September.
Bennett-Webb noted an extensive investigation done by her department in attempts to pinpoint the source of the outbreak, including “microbiological testing of food products and food preparation and serving surfaces in the restaurant.”
She also said restaurant employees who reported being ill were tested, and that “multiple samples” were taken from a private well on the property, water filters and the town’s water supply.
“No E. coli O111 was identified in any of these potential vehicles for transmission of the bacteria,” she said. “They all continue to remain as a possible means for the spread of E. coli O111.”
After Edmondson’s announcement last month on the Country Cottage, state agencies began testing private wells near Locust Grove for free.
As of last week, 85 private wells had been tested and officials said there were plans to test 22 more.
Twenty wells out of the group showed positive for E. coli bacteria, which is typically associated with human or animal waste.
On Friday, the health department said it was shipping seven cultures from the initial batch of wells that tested positive for E. coli to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for final analysis.
Results could come this week.
