Export Growth
August 4, 2026
Muscogee Nation votes to oppose Oklahoma smelter project
Written by Stephanie Ritenbaugh
The Muscogee National Council voted unanimously to oppose construction of a proposed aluminum smelter, dubbed Oklahoma Primary Aluminum, in Inola, Okla.
It’s the latest backlash against the proposed 750,000-metric ton-per-year primary smelter. The operators, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and Chicago-based Century Aluminum, plan to break ground on the facility later this year. It would be the first such smelter to be built domestically in nearly 50 years. EGA is a state-owned enterprise of the United Arab Emirates which holds a 60% ownership stake.
The $4 billion project also is facing a 60-day permitting moratorium imposed by the Inola Town Council that temporarily pauses development. That moratorium expires at the end of August.
State Attorney General Genter Drummond also filed a petition June 2 seeking to block the project.
The Muscogee Nation resolution, approved July 25 in a 15-0 vote, states the project will span over 350 acres and will be located less than 3 miles from Inola schools. The proposed site is within tribal land, near its border with the Cherokee Nation, and about 30 miles outside of Tulsa.
“The Muscogee 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 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,” the resolution states.
Century Aluminum did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
