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Oklahoma Reckons with Environmental Costs of Marijuana Industry
Lawmakers authorized Jim Mullett to target illegal operators as officials cited environmental damage from marijuana businesses and thousands of abandoned grow sites.
- Garvin County Sheriff Jim Mullett began shutting down illegal marijuana operations in Garvin County after receiving authorization, targeting abandoned grow sites that plague rural areas like Holdenville.
- Authorities believe rural Oklahoma is littered with thousands of abandoned marijuana grows, often leaving behind hazardous chemicals and pesticides that threaten local soil and groundwater.
- Operators often used straw owners to bypass licensing requirements, leaving property owners like Pat Foor to absorb cleanup costs after purchasing abandoned sites filled with debris and chemicals.
- Cleanup remains difficult as no bond money has been successfully collected from operators, leaving officials without dedicated funding to cover remediation costs and forcing landowners to absorb expenses.
- Hundreds of illegal businesses have been closed, yet legislative attempts to address the cleanup problem have struggled, leaving officials to determine how to manage the pollution and equipment left behind.
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35 Articles
35 Articles
Coverage Details
Total News Sources35
Leaning Left5Leaning Right0Center30Last UpdatedBias Distribution86% Center
Bias Distribution
- 86% of the sources are Center
86% Center
14%
C 86%
Factuality
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