Construction of the first US aluminium smelter since 1980 at the Tulsa Port of Inola is faced with another test. Four nearby residents have filed a lawsuit, claiming that the US Department of Energy (DOE) was funding the project without undertaking the site-specific environmental review. This adds a fresh layer of scrutiny to the Trump-backed aluminium smelter that was being pushed to boost the domestic aluminium industry.
The proposed aluminium facility under the lens, with a 60-40 joint venture of Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and Century Aluminum, respectively, is being developed by Oklahoma Primary Aluminum, with a projected annual production capacity of more than 750,000 tonnes of aluminium.
After Inola City Council-approved a 60-day moratorium and Oklahoma Attorney General and governor candidate Gentner Drummond’s lawsuit seeking to stop the project, the local opposition has emerged once more.
The latest lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Oklahoma, names Energy Secretary Chris Wright and the DOE as defendants. The four Rogers County residents are seeking a preliminary pause on further federal funding for major, irreversible construction such as land clearing, grading, foundations, permanent roads and utilities, until a comprehensive environmental review of the Inola site is completed.
At the centre of the case is the claim that the agency improperly used a process known in environmental law as “segmentation” by treating connected stages of the project as separate actions.
The filing states that “Phase 1 and construction of the smelter were connected parts of one proposed action,” arguing that site selection, design, equipment procurement and infrastructure work were ultimately linked to advancing the larger construction project.