About 25 miles east of Downtown Tulsa, Inola bills itself as the Hay Capital of the World.
But a proposed $4 billion aluminum smelter would give Inola a new superlative: home of the largest economic development project in Oklahoma history.
The smelter has backing from President Donald Trump, Gov. Kevin Stitt and other state and federal officials, who say domestic aluminum production is a matter of national security.
But many Inola residents are concerned about how hydrogen fluoride emissions will affect surrounding plants and livestock.
At a meeting Monday, Inola's mayor and board of trustees officially hit pause on zoning approvals for the smelter.
Residents ask town officials to 'pump the brakes'
As town leadership met Monday night to consider a moratorium that would pause their approvals process for the smelter, hundreds of attendees packed Inola High School's fine arts room. About 100 people who couldn't fit were sent to the gym to watch on TV.
Christine Roam was one of dozens wearing teal "Stop the Inola Smelter" t-shirts. She says the moratorium will allow more time to gather data and develop enforceable agreements with the company behind the smelter.
"There are so many unanswered questions about the environmental impacts that this smelter is going to have," Roam said. "And so it seems prudent for a project this large to pump the brakes and to give us the opportunity to review everything and make sure that the representations that are being made about how clean and modern this smelter is actually are accurate."
Assistant U.S. Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson addressed the town council Monday night. She said the $5 million in federal funding pledged to this project is contingent on meeting clean energy standards.
"This is the newest technology. This is closed-loop technology, that emissions will not leave the plant. They are captured," Robertson said, eliciting grumbles from the crowd. "All right. I guess it's not as friendly here as where I came from."
Many Inola residents said they were disillusioned with the Trump Administration's characterization of the smelter. It doesn't match what the company behind the smelter put in its February application for an air quality permit from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, Roam said.
"We've heard President Trump say this is going to be the most modern and the cleanest smelter," Roam said. "We're not seeing that in the air permit application, and we don't want to just take their word for it. So we need time in order for that information to come out, for this community to feel comfortable that it actually is going to be what they represent."
Inola resident Thomas Harrington feels that should be an easy ask.
"Just show me that it's safe and show that with what you're going to put in a legally enforceable document," Harrington said.
Harrington said he's pro-energy and pro-development. But he's also strongly in favor of the moratorium — he addressed the town council multiple times during the public comment portions of Monday's meeting, and he said he's tried to talk with the smelter's proponents as well.
"I'm like, you have an easy battle to win," he said. "And you're digging reverse on us for some reason…. We are Oklahomans. We want this kind of stuff. You just have to frame it in a way that doesn't treat us like they kind of have been."
Letters urge support for smelter
Ahead of Monday's meeting, town leaders received letters from Oklahoma Primary Aluminum, Tulsa Ports and Trump.
"Any actions taken by the Town of Inola that wrongfully interfere with Tulsa Port's [sic] stated purpose will necessitate a response to protect the integrity of Tulsa Ports and the Port of Inola," Tulsa Ports lawyer Randy Shorb said in a letter to the town's board of trustees.
Shorb's letter also assured town officials that compliance with state and federal environmental regulations "is common for industries located in our industrial park."
Oklahoma Primary Aluminum is the local arm of Emirates Global Aluminium, the United Arab Emirates-based company behind the project. It also threatened legal action.
"Given the tens of millions of dollars already invested in the property and Project, Oklahoma Primary Aluminum would have an obligation to its stakeholders to pursue available legal remedies to recover those investment losses," Executive Director Ziad Fares wrote. "Such litigation would impose substantial expense on Inola."
Trump's letter took a more encouraging approach. Robertson, the Department of Energy official, read it aloud to the town council.
"I strongly urge you to approve the Oklahoma aluminum smelter without delay, so that together we may strengthen our national security, supercharge our economy, and lead our nation boldly into the golden age of American greatness," the letter concluded.
"Build it in Mar-a-Lago," an attendee called in response.
After nearly six hours of public comments, presentations from state and federal officials, and discussions behind closed doors, Inola's city leadership unanimously approved a 60-day moratorium on approvals for the smelter.
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.
