In filing a petition to stop the $400 billion aluminum smelter proposed in Inola, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond suggests political forces were at play in bringing the project to the state while the public was kept in the dark. Political influence from half-way around the world and the federal government.
It’s what he suggested in the 12-page petition he filed in Rogers County District Court., a filing that included stark pictures of sickened animals and rotted human teeth meant to be supportive of his claims how dangerous the emissions from such a plant would be to residents and livestock in the region. A deeper review of the claims and contentions the Attorney General made revealed more about his opposition to the project. It also shows the case will be handled by a judge appointed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, not only a supporter of the smelter but a target of Drummond political criticism.
“This controversy belongs in this Court and nowhere else,” stated Drummond in his court petition. He called the project an “anticipated public nuisance” and claimed that the largest primary aluminum smelter in the history of the United States would also bring with it “the fluoride emissions, particulate matter, perfluorocarbons, spent potliner, and process wastewater that the world’s aluminum smelters are notorious for producing.”
“They propose to do so a stone’s throw from the homes, schools, churches, and farms of Inola, Oklahoma,” contended Drummond in his court filing, something he repeated at his news conference in Inola.
Drummond, who is running for the GOP nomination for Governor, went on to claim the “venture is propelled by an extraordinary infusion of public money,” including $500 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to help co-owner Century Aluminum with underwriting the construction of the smelter.
“The State of Oklahoma has layered its own subsidies on top, including an incentive package reported to approach $255 million, together with tax credits and property-tax exemptions, and the City of Inola has created a tax-increment-financing district to support the project,” continued the Attorney General.
“The arrangement was not the product of ordinary market forces. On information and belief, EGA’s investment was solicited and secured as part of a government-to-government “strategic partnership” between the United Arab Emirates and the United States announced in Abu Dhabi on or about May 15, 2025. The foreign sovereign’s entry into Rogers County was, in short, a matter of state-the business of governments, transacted over the heads of the Oklahomans who will breathe the air,” charged Drummond.
The project, called Oklahoma Primary Aluminum, has two owners, one, one of whom is Century Aluminum based in Chicago. Century joined the project nine months after Gov. Kevin Stitt announced that Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) had entered into a joint development agreement with Century Aluminum Company to build what will be the first new primary aluminum production plant in the United States since 1980.
Under the agreement, Emirates Global Aluminum will own 60% of the joint venture, while Century Aluminum will hold a 40% stake. Company officials described the project as the single largest investment ever made in the U.S. aluminum industry.
Drummond took aim at the ownership, saying EGA is not a private company “in any ordinary sense,” and is a state-owned enterprise of the United Arab Emirates, owned in equal halves by Mubadala Investment Company-a sovereign wealth fund of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi-and the Investment Corporation of Dubai-a sovereign wealth fund of the Emirate of Dubai. EGA is, in substance and in law, an arm of two foreign
governments.
“Its sixty percent stake means that 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 seven thousand miles away,” charged the attorney general in the court filing.
Deeper into the document, Attorney General Drummond called primary aluminum smelting “among the most polluting heavy-industrial activities known” as the electrolytic reduction of alumina releases gaseous and particulate fluorides, sulfur dioxide, fine particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and potent greenhouse gases including perfluorocarbons. He called the releases “hazardous” and also claimed the plant would consume electricity and water on a scale that rivals a small city. It’s the same kind of charge made by some Oklahomans in their fight against data centers.
Drummond’s petition charged they are “imminent concerns” and the “chosen site makes the danger acute.” He cited Century’s own track record as proof of the dangers and of what Rogers County could expect from the smelter. The Attorney General pointed to nearly $1 million in claims settled by Century with more than 700 property owners who lived near the company’s primary aluminum smelter in South Carolina.
The petition also pointed to the company’s smelter in Kentucky where over the past 12 years, the operation “amassed” 30 violations for exceeding emission limits, improper management of hazardous waste, for testing and monitoring failures and water-quality violations.
Drummond’s petition included two counts.
COUNT I – ANTICIPATORY PUBLIC NUISANCE (50 O.S. SS 1,8)
“A primary aluminum smelter of unprecedented size, to be operated by a company with
a documented, multi-state history of emissions violations and harm to its neighbors, sited within
approximately three miles of an Oklahoma town, is a nuisance in the making.”
COUNT II — THREATENED POLLUTION UNDER THE OKLAHOMА
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY CODE (27A O.S. § 2-6-105) (PLEADED IN THE
ALTERNATIVE)
“The Oklahoma Environmental Quality Code makes it unlawful to cause pollution of
the waters of the State or to place or cause to be placed any wastes in a location where they are likely
to cause pollution of the air, land, or waters of the State. 27A O.S. § 2-6-105.
41. Defendants’ planned construction and operation of the Inola smelter, including their
plan to route industrial process wastewater through a treatment facility not designed or permitted for
such waste, is likely to cause pollution of the air, land, and waters of the State within the meaning of
the Code.”
The filing is asking for a temporary restraining order or a permanent injunction to stop construction of the project.
The case was already assigned to Rogers County District Judge Sue Nigh, appointed in 2021 by Gov. Stitt, a supporter of the aluminum smelter project and who has been the target of Drummond’s criticism in the past few years.
Prior to her appointment, Judge Nigh served Oklahoma as an assistant district attorney since February 2011. Nigh was an assistant DA in Oklahoma’s 12th district, starting in December 2018. There she furthered her experience as a prosecutor and oversaw a wide range of felony and misdemeanor cases. Nigh’s experience also includes time as an assistant DA in both Washington and Tulsa counties.
“Susan has a proven track record as an experienced and talented attorney,” said Gov. Stitt in making the appointment. “I have great confidence that as a judge, Susan will uphold the law and dutifully serve the people of Oklahoma.”
The governor didn’t hesitate to make it known how he felt about Drummond’s effort to block the project.
“As soon as President Trump made his endorsement in the governor’s race, Drummond dropped the act and showed his true colors,” said Stitt. “Now he is turning his machine against one of President Trump’s top priorities, once again weaponizing his office to settle scores instead of serving Oklahomans. President Trump’s aluminum project in Inola will rapidly grow Oklahoma’s economy and strengthen America’s supply chain for generations, while Drummond turns his back on our state in favor of cheap political gimmicks and personal gain.”
