Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s legal fight to stop the state from advancing with a proposed $4 billion aluminum smelter at Inola could be headed to Federal court from state court.
Attorneys for Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA)and Century Aluminum, owners of the proposed facility – Oklahoma Primary Aluminum filed a Notice of Filing Notice of Removal on Tuesday in Rogers County District Court where Drummond filed his case last month.
The attorneys are from the Oklahoma City-based Crowe Dunley law firm and represent the defendants, Century Aluminum Company and Aluminum Oklahoma LLC who are doing business as Oklahoma Primary Aluminum LLC. The Rogers County filing said a filing had been made with the Clerk of the United States Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, which is located in Tulsa.
As of Thursday, the Attorney General had not responded in Rogers County.
Such a filing is not unusual and as defined, the Notice of Removal is a move by a defendant to transfer the case from a state court to a federal court. It is typically taken when the defendant believes the case meets specific legal criteria that allow it to be heard in federal court. It is essentially an effort to ask the federal court to take over the case.
The proposed facility – Oklahoma Primary Aluminum – would be the largest primary aluminum production plant ever constructed in the U.S. with a planned capacity exceeding 750,000 metric tons of aluminum per year. Primary aluminum smelting generates a hazardous waste stream, consumes significant amounts of electricity and water and is one of the most polluting heavy-industrial activities that exists. The process also wreaks havoc on cattle, threatening Oklahoma’s single largest agricultural sector.
The facility is projected to draw more than 1,000 megawatts of continuous electricity, more power than many Oklahoma cities consume, placing extraordinary strain on the regional grid served by Public Service Company of Oklahoma and threatening the reliability and affordability of electricity for Oklahoma ratepayers.
If it were to be built,it would be the first such aluminum smelter to be constructed in the United States in 50 years. The project, proposed by a United Arab Emirates company, also was supported by the state of Oklahoma through millions of dollars in incentives.
Drummond held a news conference in Inola to announce the filing of a petition in Rogers County District Court and his announcement drew the applause of those who gathered for his announcement.
“Today’s petition to block the enormous smelter is a major to protect Oklahomans, our air, our land, and our water. The smelter would occupy about 350 acres along the Verdigris River, just 3 miles from schools, homes, and farms. A primary aluminum smelter does not belong in a community’s backyard, and its emissions do not respect property lines,” Drummond said, adding that winds could carry pollutants into the surrounding northeastern Oklahoma communities. “The injury is imminent, it is grave, and it is irreparable.”
Drummond is seeking approval from a Rogers County District Judge to block any further attempts to build the plant. He explained that Count 1 of his petition is anticipatory public nuisance under Title 50, Sections 1 and 8, and Count 2 is a threatened pollution under the Oklahoma Environmental Quality Code, plated in the (1:36) alternative, under Title 27A, Section 2-6-0-5.
“And the prayer for relief seeks a temporary, preliminary, and permanent injunction restraining the destruction and the operation of the smelter in and around Inova, an order of abatement of anticipated public nuisance, and is actually the only other relief that this court would be determined appropriate.”
After Drummond’s filing, Oklahoma Primary Aluminum issued a statement and defended its project.
“Oklahoma Primary Aluminum is leading a national effort initiated as part of President Trump’s America First agenda to bring aluminum production and jobs back to the United States. We’re investing in Oklahoma because we believe this facility can bring meaningful benefits to the community, the state and our nation.”
The company said the project would provide aluminum critical to national defense, double domestic output and cut dependence on foreign aluminum and bring at least 1,000 permanent jobs, 2,000 indirect jobs and 4,000 construction jobs to Oklahoma.
