By Ernest Scheyder
June 3 (Reuters) – Oklahoma’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit seeking to block Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) and Century Aluminum from building the largest U.S. aluminum smelter, citing concerns about the project’s ties to the United Arab Emirates and worries the project could harm the state’s cattle.
The suit was filed in state court on Tuesday by Gentner Drummond, a Republican who was elected as attorney general in 2022 and is now running for governor. It seeks to tap into the simmering tension across the U.S. about the buildout of critical minerals projects, especially in rural towns with deep ties to farming and ranching.
The $4 billion Oklahoma smelter project has the backing of President Donald Trump, who last Friday endorsed Drummond’s opponent in the Republican primary for governor.
If constructed, the smelter would produce 750,000 metric tons per year of aluminum, a key metal used widely across various industries, and be the first of its kind built in the country since 1980.
EGA controls 60% of the project, with Chicago-based Century Aluminum controlling the remaining 40%. In a joint statement, the companies noted the project was in the permitting stage and said they were “committed to responsible, transparent operations and environmental stewardship.”
The U.S. imports more than half of the aluminum it needs each year. That imbalance has prompted a wave of tariffs from the Trump administration.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican, has been positioning the state as an epicenter of America’s critical minerals renaissance, a move Trump has supported.
The U.S. Energy Department gave the aluminum project a $500 million grant earlier this year, alongside state incentives.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ALLEGATIONS
Drummond alleges in the 12-page lawsuit that the smelter, slated for the town of Inola, roughly 30 miles (48 km) east of Tulsa, would leach air and water pollutants that would “injure the health, comfort, repose, and safety of the people” of the region.
“A primary aluminum smelter does not belong in a community’s backyard and its emissions do not respect property lines,” Drummond wrote in the lawsuit, which asks the court to block the project.
Drummond blasted EGA’s owner, sovereign wealth funds tied to the United Arab Emirates government, referring to it as an “Islamic foreign monarchy.”
“When the fumes settle over Inola, the people harmed will be Oklahomans; the entity that profits, and that holds the controlling vote on how the plant is run, answers to Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” Drummond wrote.
The suit was filed four days after Trump endorsed Drummond’s rival, former state Senator Mike Mazzei, for the June 16 Republican gubernatorial primary.
Both Mazzei and Drummond are neck-and-neck in recent polling. The winner of the primary is likely to easily win the November 3 general election in the Republican-dominated state.
Stitt, the outgoing governor, noted the lawsuit’s timing just days after Trump’s endorsement and said Drummond is “weaponizing his office to settle scores instead of serving Oklahomans.”
Construction on the smelter had been slated to begin by the end of the year, with production by the end of the decade.
EGA operates smelters in the Middle East and an aluminum recycling plant in Minnesota.
Chicago-based Century operates smelters in Iceland, South Carolina and Kentucky. Glencore is Century’s largest shareholder, with a 30% stake.
(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; additional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by David Gregorio)
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