(Local residents gather for a community meeting in Inola on Mar. 7, 2026 to discuss the aluminum smelter planned for their community. Thomas Harrington explains to the crowd gathered the air pollution levels, chemical make up and distance that can be expected from the plant. (Rip Stell/Oklahoma Watch)
A year after Oklahoma entered into an agreement to help fund a $4 billion aluminum smelter to be built near Inola, the project by Emirates Global Aluminium and Century Aluminum isn’t exactly being welcomed with open arms by some around the northeast town.
Billed as the first new primary aluminum production plant in the U.S. since 1980, it has since been met with criticism and opposition by some who live in Inola. They’ve even formed an opposition group called Stop The Inola Smelter…