Attorney general files lawsuit against foreign-backed project, turning one of Oklahoma’s largest economic development deals into a defining issue in the GOP governor’s primary
INOLA — Attorney General Gentner Drummond on Tuesday filed a lawsuit seeking to block construction of the proposed Oklahoma Primary Aluminum smelter in Inola, escalating both a legal battle over one of Oklahoma’s largest economic development projects and a growing divide in the Republican governor’s race.
The petition, filed in Rogers County District Court, asks a judge to halt the project, arguing the facility would create a public nuisance and threaten Oklahoma’s air, water, land and electric grid.
The lawsuit places Drummond and fellow Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Mazzei on opposite sides of one of the state’s most controversial development projects.
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The issue gained additional attention after Mazzei criticized taxpayer incentives for foreign-owned companies during last month’s gubernatorial debate. The proposed smelter is majority-owned by a company controlled by the government of the United Arab Emirates and is backed by approximately $255 million in state incentives.
Drummond has increasingly focused on those issues as he has criticized the project.
“The controlling hand behind the largest smelter ever proposed on American soil belongs not to Oklahomans, nor even to Americans, but to a foreign sovereign more than 7,000 miles away,” the petition states.
Drummond announced the lawsuit during a news conference in Inola, where he described the proposed facility as an unacceptable risk to northeastern Oklahoma communities.
“An aluminum smelter does not belong in the backyard of an Oklahoma community, and I intend to stop it,” Drummond said.
The lawsuit targets a joint venture between Emirates Global Aluminium and Century Aluminum. Emirates Global Aluminium, a state-owned enterprise of the United Arab Emirates, owns a controlling 60 percent stake in the project, while Chicago-based Century Aluminum owns the remaining 40 percent.
The proposed facility would be the largest primary aluminum smelter ever built in the United States, with projected production exceeding 750,000 metric tons of aluminum annually.
According to the filing, the facility would consume enormous amounts of electricity and water while generating industrial emissions and hazardous waste associated with aluminum production.
Drummond argued the project’s estimated electricity demand — more than 1,000 megawatts of continuous power — could place significant strain on Oklahoma’s electric grid and affect utility customers across the region.
During the news conference, he also questioned whether project developers had adequately addressed wastewater disposal, hazardous waste management and air-quality concerns in permit applications submitted to regulators. He said his office determined key questions remained unanswered after reviewing the completed application.
The legal challenge comes despite significant public investment already committed to the project.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy selected Century Aluminum for up to $500 million in federal funding tied to construction of a new domestic aluminum smelter. Oklahoma lawmakers also approved an incentive package worth approximately $255 million to help attract the facility.
Supporters have promoted the project as a strategic investment in domestic manufacturing that would strengthen the nation’s aluminum supply chain and create hundreds of jobs in northeastern Oklahoma.
Opponents, including local residents and environmental advocates, have raised concerns about emissions, water usage, waste disposal and impacts on nearby communities.
Asked whether politics influenced the timing of the lawsuit, Drummond said the decision followed completion of the project’s permit application and a review by his office.
“The original application was filed February 9, but it was not completed until May 19,” Drummond said, adding that his office spent the past two weeks reviewing the submission and determining whether enough information had been provided to address concerns about the project.
Still, the attorney general openly connected the case to his gubernatorial campaign.
“This is why you need to elect me governor,” Drummond said. “I promise you here, if elected, this case will be transferred to the governor’s office so that we can continue it through to a logical conclusion.”
The lawsuit seeks temporary, preliminary and permanent injunctions that would prevent construction and operation of the facility while the case proceeds through the courts.
The filing marks the most aggressive effort yet by a statewide elected official to stop the controversial project and sets up what could become a lengthy court battle over the future of the proposed smelter.
The dispute also ensures that the proposed aluminum plant — once promoted primarily as an economic development project — is likely to remain a major issue in the race to succeed Gov. Kevin Stitt.
