The 16-member legislative body approved the legislation 15-0 without debate.
Rep. Anna Marshall introduced the bill. It calls out a contested, $4 billion facility planned for the city of Inola, which is located within the tribe's reservation and near its border with Cherokee Nation. The legislation says the smelter, which processes raw materials into aluminum metal, would pollute the air, contaminate water, harm wildlife and disrupt the area's energy grid.
"Oklahoma's winds will carry pollution to Claremore, Pryor, Broken Arrow, Tulsa and Coweta," the legislation reads. "Regional air quality degradation will affect the health and quality of every living thing across Northeast Oklahoma."
The project was announced in May 2025 for the Port of Inola, aided by $500 million in federal funding and a $255 million state incentive package. Estimates suggest the facility will use 1,000 megawatts of continuous energy. Gov. Kevin Stitt said it will create 1,000 direct and 1,800 indirect jobs.
In January, the project was announced as a joint venture between Emirates Global Aluminum, an aluminum company based in the United Arab Emirates, and the Chicago-based Century Aluminum Company. If constructed, it would reportedly be the first primary aluminum smelter built in the U.S. in 50 years, and would serve as the largest primary aluminum site in the country.
U.S. President Donald Trump has supported the project on social media, in addition to state officials like Stitt.
But it has also faced opposition from the City of Inola, which instated a 60-day moratorium on the smelter late last month, and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who filed a lawsuit to prevent its construction.
And now, Muscogee Nation is taking formal action, saying it is determined to protect reservation land.
"The Muscogee (Creek) Nation will not sit passively and allow State government to permit a foreign corporation to construct and operate an aluminum smelter which is caustic to the environment of all northeastern Oklahoma," the tribal resolution reads. "The result would lead to generational environmental trauma to the descendants of all people living in eastern Oklahoma and to the systemic destruction of the environment and communities."
In Oklahoma, many tribal nations are limited in their oversight of environmental regulations due to 2005 legislation authored by late Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, which requires tribes to receive permission from the state to administer EPA regulations on reservation land.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
