A proposed $4 billion aluminum smelter would give Inola a new superlative: home of the largest economic development project in Oklahoma history.
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.
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