Homeland Security Director Markwayne Mullin says he fully supports the proposed $4 billion aluminum smelter at Inola and at the same time is accusing some environmentalists of spreading lies about the project.
“There’s just so much misinformation out there that shouldn’t be out there, and they’ve spread lies about this,” he told News 9 in Oklahoma City this week, adding, “We have a lot of environmental companies that have come in and spreading false lies about it.”
The former U.S. Senator did not offer any specifics to support his claims. He said the project is a national security issue and he supports it. Mullin, who owns a ranch in eastern Oklahoma including land dating back to the 1800s, claimed some of the groups fighting the project are using outdated information from the 60s, 70s and 80s and “ not the information that we actually have today on these smelting plants. I don’t want to harm Oklahoma. I don’t want to harm the farmer community.”
He said President Trump feels the same way.
“The amount of work that’s going to come into Inola because of the small-to-big plant and the other companies that are going to be set up around it to support that, well, it’s career changing for individuals that want to stay home and not move away from their families. That’s what every parent wants, right? We want our kids to stay close and have an opportunity to do that. In small towns, you don’t always have that.”
