INOLA, Okla. — Dozens packed Inola’s town hall on May 27, hoping to make their voices heard. The topic: the new aluminum plant coming to town.
The town council voted to approve a tax increment district – one step in finalizing the plant – despite wide opposition from residents.
Most who commented, including resident Elizabeth Richards, were in opposition.
WATCH: 'Lot of risk, lot of money' | Inola residents share mixed opinions on aluminum plant
“So this is all hopes and dreams, and a lot of risk, and a lotta money,” Richards said.
It is likely, each and every person at the town hall has had a canned beverage, drives a car, and uses deodorant. Each of which has aluminum. Though neighbors were squarely in opposition of the aluminum plant coming to their town.
As things stand – an aluminum production plant is set to go in at the Port of Inola.
An overseas company is set to run the plant that is expected to create thousands of jobs and billions of dollars for the economy.
THE BEGINNING >>> 2 News Anchor Sharon Phillips first covered the news of the company’s arrival
The plant is expected to create hundreds of jobs, and billions of dollars worth of economic impact, exciting a few residents.
“This project brings much-needed financing to the town. This is money we’ve needed for a long time,” one neighbor said.
Though the environmental impacts are too scary for some residents, some even fearing it will cause serious disease.
“Cancer’s pretty much the outcome that I think most people here are worried about,” another resident said.
There’s no indication the incoming plant would cause cancer, but any kind of development will have some environmental impact.
Naturally, the aluminum plant is a significant project, but the data on previous plants is bad. However, Andrew Ralston with the Tulsa Port Authority says the data is outdated and skewed.
“A lot of the data that you see online today is extremely out of date. For these facilities, because they haven’t built one since 1980,” Ralston said, “1980 was the last one that went into commission. A lot of these processes … while they’ve been implemented or retrofitted with new kinds of processes, they are not nearly as efficient as a new facility, with new technology developed over the last 30 years, could bring to bear. “
2 News requested an interview with Mayor Darlene Shear. After considering it, Shear sent the town clerk over to Brodie Myers to deny the request on her behalf.
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