ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — An environmental group says emails they obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show a close relationship between Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and an attorney for Perdue Farms Inc.

The group, Washington-based Food & Water Watch, obtained 70 pages of emails between O’Malley and Herbert Frerichs Jr., general counsel for Perdue Business Services. In emails from July 10 through November 2011, the two confer on topics ranging from chicken waste incineration to wind energy.

Food & Water Watch said the emails show “a head of state who walks on eggshells around the chicken industry.”

The governor’s communications director said Food & Water watch was misinterpreting O’Malley’s tone as uniformly deferential. A Perdue spokeswoman said it’s no secret the two men have known each other since attending law school together.

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