OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson is celebrating yet another battle victory in his long-running legal war against northwest Arkansas-based poultry producers.

An Oklahoma Federal Court ruled yesterday that Arkansas' current attorney general - and Edmondson's fellow-Democrat - Dustin McDaniel, could not intervene in Edmondson's water pollution suit against 14 Arkansas producers.

Arkansas' then-attorney general, Gov. Mike Beebe, brought action after the U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) refused his request last year to dismiss the suit. But the lower court ruled yesterday that only the USSC has intervention authority in interstate disputes.

Edmondson filed suit in June 2005 against 14 poultry-producing companies, including Tyson Foods Inc., Cargill Inc. and Simmons Foods Inc. Several recently accused Edmondson of making unconstitutional contingency-fee agreements with attorneys, LegalNewsLine reported.

Edmondson stated his agreement with U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell's ruling in a press release yesterday, noting that the USSC has already ruled on the case. "Today's ruling moves us one step closer to trial," Edmondson's release declared.

"The parties in this lawsuit are the State of Oklahoma and the poultry companies, who we allege are polluting our waters with their waste," he added. "We did not sue Arkansas and we did not sue one single farmer."

Following the decision, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel appeared to wave a white flag on further action. He told the AP that rather than appeal the ruling, Arkansas could instead file a friend-of-the-court brief for the trial.

Edmondson's 2005 lawsuit followed what he calls "four years of fruitless negotiations" with the Arkansas poultry producers.

The suit alleges the companies are illegally polluting the river watershed with improper waste disposal on their poultry farms. Edmondson claims the amount of waste equals that of almost 11 million people.