While the clamor over a proposed $4 billion aluminum smelter at the Port of Inola in northeast Oklahoma would lead one to think it is opposed by most of the residents around Inola, there are still supporters of the massive industrial project.
Oklahoma Watch delved into the quiet supporters, saying they “aren’t packing town hall meetings,” or “aren’t cheering on the attorney general’s lawsuit to try to block the development,” and “aren’t booing Gov. Kevin Stitt’s calls to reduce America’s reliance on foreign metal.”
Instead, “They’re quietly running the local school district and nearby Career Tech center.”
“They aren’t engaging in public rhetoric, but they do exist,” wrote the journalism investigative group.
One of those interviewed by Oklahoma Watch was Inola Town Administrator Scott Devers who said he sees no downsides to the proposed smelter after extensive meetings with aluminum company representatives.
“People around here don’t understand this will be the lowest-emitting smelter in the world based on best available technology, which is what the company will use,” Devers said. “They still don’t know how efficient this thing will be. It breaks my heart that we have a community that is divided; it’s almost like a civil war. We have families and friends that are divided over this one issue, and that makes me sad.”
In Devers’ view, opponents to the Oklahoma Primary Aluminum plant are really opposed to growth but have cloaked their argument with environmental concerns.
“They’ve been here for decades as an agricultural, ranching community, but that lifestyle has not allowed our kids to stay here,” Devers said. “They have to leave here to get an education and they have to leave here to get a job. They don’t want us to grow and they’re using the environmental thing as a crutch, is my opinion.”
Another supporter interviewed by Oklahoma Watch was the President of the Northeast Tech Board, Rosalie Griffith.
Northeast Tech Board President Rosalie Griffith has lived more than 50 of her 79 years in Inola. She is a retired accountant who served 20 years on the Inola school board and now serves on the town’s rural economic development and chamber boards.
She believes her neighbors engaged with Stop the Smelter are relying on outdated environmental impact studies from plants built in the 1970s and 1980s.
Last week, when Attorney General Drummond came to town to explain his reasons for filing a lawsuit, she went to hear the man out. But after clocking the event at eight minutes, in total, she was left with the impression that the legal maneuver was a political stunt intended to garner Drummond votes in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
“Technology has come a long way and we have laws we have to abide by as far as emissions from these companies that come in and build factories, so you’re going to have to prove to me it’s going to be detrimental to the community,” Griffith said. “I’ve heard the criticisms that the main developer is foreign-owned, but Sofidel is out here and they’re a foreign-owned company that has been great for the community. I just want Inola to grow and flourish.”
Another support is a member of the committee that developed a tax increment financing district or TIF which includes a $429 milliono economic incentive package to capture some of the local property and sales taxes.
TIF incentive review committee member Leroy Johnson, 83, moved to town in 1968 and commuted to his job at American Airlines in Tulsa for more than 32 years before retiring.
His three children and most of his grandchildren graduated from Inola, and one of his great-grandchildren is a student there.
His experience with weighing budgetary matters and even some divisive policies as a member of the local school board from 1979-1999 prompted him to attend recent Inola town council meetings to listen to both officials and his concerned neighbors.
“We have to trust the EPA, and a lot of people don’t,” Johnson said. “They’re not going to let us put anything that’s gonna kill cows five or 10 miles down the road. That’s the reason I’m still for it. Some people I consider my friends, I’ve put my arms around their neck and told them I just wouldn’t vote for anything that would hurt anybody.”
Johnson also said he believes it is past time for the rural town, which serves as a bedroom community to Catoosa, Broken Arrow and Tulsa, to embrace opportunities for growth.
“We don’t even have a decent place to eat,” he said. “This will benefit the school district, even though that’s probably five or 10 years down the road before it’s on the books. I’m for it for the total community.”
