The attorney general says a court order is needed before Inola’s construction moratorium expires Aug. 28. Developers say construction will not begin without final permits.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Attorney General Gentner Drummond asked a federal judge Tuesday to block even preliminary site work on the proposed Inola aluminum smelter while the state’s lawsuit against the project remains unresolved.
The requested injunction would bar site preparation, grading, foundation work and construction until the case is decided. Drummond argues a court order is needed because Inola’s 60-day construction moratorium expires on or about Aug. 28.
“This motion asks the Court to do one thing: keep the ground at Inola unbroken,” the filing says.
No ruling had been issued Tuesday.
The filing comes exactly two weeks before Drummond faces Mike Mazzei in the Aug. 25 Republican runoff for governor. The proposed smelter has become one of the campaign’s defining disputes, with Drummond seeking to stop it and Mazzei supporting it as an economic development and national-security project.
A race against the moratorium
Drummond filed his original lawsuit June 2 in Rogers County District Court, arguing the smelter would threaten public health, agriculture and natural resources. The developers moved the case to federal court in July, and Drummond has asked that it be returned to Rogers County.
His latest filing asks whichever court handles the case to prevent construction while those questions are decided. Under the federal court’s normal schedule, the developers’ response would not be due until after the Inola moratorium expires.
The companies have told the court that construction has not begun and that an air permit is required before it can start. Oklahoma Primary Aluminum says it expects final approvals and early site work near the end of 2026.
Drummond argues preliminary grading and site preparation may not require the air permit and could begin after the town’s moratorium expires.
The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality paused its review of the project’s air-permit application July 2 and requested corrections or additional information involving emission calculations, pollution controls and air-dispersion modeling. The filing says the company’s final response is due Sept. 26.
“If Defendants stand by their representations, a standstill changes nothing for them,” Drummond’s motion says.
Expert challenges fluoride estimates
Drummond’s motion relies heavily on a declaration from Ranajit “Ron” Sahu, an engineer and environmental consultant with more than 35 years of experience.
The project’s permit application lists potential emissions of about 425 tons a year of fluoride compounds. That is a regulatory estimate of how much the facility could emit, not necessarily the amount expected during normal operations.
Airborne fluoride from aluminum smelters can settle on hay and other forage and accumulate in the bones and teeth of cattle. Drummond argues those emissions could threaten the livestock industry around Inola.
Sahu contends the application may underestimate emissions because it assumes unusually high performance from the plant’s fluoride-capture and pollution-control systems. He called those assumptions “completely unsupported by any engineering analysis.”
He also compared the application with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s most recent emissions inventory and concluded the proposed facility could emit more fluoride than any existing primary aluminum smelter in the country.
Oklahoma Primary Aluminum disputes that interpretation. Its Answers Center says advanced dry scrubbers would capture fluoride and return it to the production process.
“The facility will be engineered to capture and reuse approximately 99% of the fluoride used in production,” the company says.
The developers have not yet filed a response to Tuesday’s motion.
Filing adds new Iran argument
Drummond also raised a new concern involving Glencore, Century Aluminum’s largest shareholder and customer.
Century notified the Securities and Exchange Commission in March that non-U.S. Glencore affiliates had contracts involving agricultural products sold to or from entities owned by the Iranian government.
Drummond says the disclosure raises questions about ownership and transparency that deserve further review before construction begins. His motion acknowledges, however, that the information “may not ultimately decide the merits” of the lawsuit.
Century told the SEC that the transactions complied with sanctions laws and were not subject to enforcement action. It also said Century and its subsidiaries were not involved in the transactions and do not control Glencore or its non-U.S. affiliates.
Emirates Global Aluminium, which is owned by government investment funds in the United Arab Emirates, holds 60% of Oklahoma Primary Aluminum. Chicago-based Century owns the remaining 40%.
Smelter remains dividing line in runoff
The proposed $4 billion facility would produce more than 750,000 metric tons of aluminum annually, making it the largest primary aluminum smelter ever built in the United States. Developers project about 1,000 permanent jobs and 4,000 construction jobs.
The project has been selected for up to $500 million from the U.S. Department of Energy and is supported by a $255 million Oklahoma incentive package. The state assistance is performance-based and would not begin until the facility is operating and meeting employment requirements.
Mazzei called the project a “billion dollar scam” in January and criticized state incentives for the majority UAE-owned venture during a March debate. He announced his support May 29, hours before President Donald Trump endorsed him.
Mazzei has said Trump personally called him and persuaded him of the project’s importance to national security and domestic aluminum production. He maintains that his earlier objections focused on the incentive structure.
Drummond argues the environmental and agricultural risks make the proposed Inola location unacceptable.
“The people of Rogers County stand to lose their health, their herds and their livelihoods,” Drummond said Tuesday.
