Inola aluminum smelter developer answers questions about fluoride, environment safeguards

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): For months, FOX23 has been asking questions about the proposed multi-billion dollar aluminum smelter at the Tulsa Port of Inola that have been raised by farmers, ranchers, state lawmakers and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond.

This week, FOX23 took many of those questions directly to one of the people leading the project.

Ziad Fares, the project director for Oklahoma Primary Aluminum, sat down with FOX23 to discuss the proposed facility's environmental impact, fluoride emissions, technology, monitoring. agriculture and the permitting process.

"The question would be, would it be safe?" FOX23's Devyn Lyon asked.

"Absolutely," Fares said. "Otherwise, we're not going to be allowed to build and we're not going to build."

The proposed facility would be built at the Tulsa Port of Inola and produce up to 750,000 metric tons of aluminum each year, according to Oklahoma Primary Aluminum.

The company said it would create at least 1,000 permanent direct jobs.

Currently, the project remains under regulatory review.

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality currently lists the company's major-source construction in the technical review stage with a status of "Awaiting Applicant Response."

One of the biggest concerns FOX23 has heard from farmers living around the proposed site involves fluoride emissions.

FOX23 previously reported on Inola rancher Carl Day, who traveled to a Kentucky aluminum smelter and collected grass and soil samples that he later submitted for laboratory testing.

Day told FOX23 his concerns center on what fluoride emissions could mean for cattle and agricultural property surrounding the proposed Inola site.

Fares said the developers understand those concerns.

Oklahoma Primary Aluminum's initial air permit application used a maximum total fluoride emissions rate of 1.02 pounds per ton of aluminum produced.

However, Fares told FOX23 that number should not be interpreted as what the facility would actually emit.

"That initial number that we put there will most likely be updated. This is the maximum permitted emission level. This is not the actual emission level. We will actually be well below that number."

Fares said the initial figure was submitted in February, relatively early in the project's feasibility and design work.

He said Oklahoma Primary Aluminum is now working with DEQ to determine what pollution-control technologies should be incorporated into the facility.

"This is a process that we're going through at the moment with DEQ, defining all those best available control technologies."

DEQ's review is not finished and the agency has not approved the construction permit.

Fares told FOX23 that recovering fluoride isn't just an environmental objective for an aluminum smelter. He said there's also an economic incentive to capture it because fluoride compounds are used in the production process.

He said the facility would first attempt to limit the amount escaping the production equipment through hooding systems, automation and operating procedures.

Fluoride entering the facility's flue gas would then encounter its scrubbing systems.

"You would be using dry scrubbing and wet scrubbing. So it's, in a way, a dual layer to reduce the fluoride emission to the extent possible."

Fares said fluoride captured by the dry scrubbing process can be returned to the production process rather than released.

He told FOX23 the company expects roughly 99% of the fluoride to be captured.

Oklahoma Primary Aluminum similarly said in its public project materials that its facility would be engineered to capture and reuse approximately 99% of fluoride used in production.

Supporters of the project have repeatedly described the proposed Inola facility as using modern or next-generation technology.

FOX23 asked Fares what that actually means.

Fares said Emirates Global Aluminum has spent roughly four decades developing its proprietary aluminum-smelting technology and intends to use its latest generation in Oklahoma.

According to Fares, that technology is currently being piloted in the United Arab Emirates.

He said the primary advantage is efficiency through requiring less electricity to produce aluminum and allowing greater production within a smaller footprint.

Fares said the smelting technology itself is only part of the design.

He said the proposed Inola facility would also incorporate modern pollution-control equipment, enclosed material handling, continuous monitoring and digital systems designed to quickly identify abnormal operating conditions.

"The smelter will be using the best available and latest control technologies to ensure that the environmental impact of that activity is reduced to the extent possible."

FOX23 directly asked Fares what all of this means for farmers already living in the area.

Farmers and ranchers we've interviewed around Inola have said they don't want Oklahoma's effort to increase domestic aluminum production to come at the expense of the agricultural businesses already operating there.

Fares said the company is making a commitment that it won't.

"There is a commitment that the impact of our smelter is not going to negatively or adversely impact their businesses, whether it is ranching businesses or whether it is farming businesses."

He said air-dispersion modeling will be part of determining whether the facility's proposed controls are sufficient.

According to Fares, that modeling incorporates proposed emissions, local terrain and weather patterns to estimate concentrations around the facility and potential impacts on people, vegetation, soil and livestock.

However, that work is part of the ongoing environmental review and isn't a completed finding that the facility will have no impact.

FOX23 also asked what happens after construction if the project ultimately receives its permits.

Fares said monitoring would be part of the facility's operating requirements.

"There is nothing to hide. Of course it will be available. Of course, the process will be transparent."

He said details including what is monitored, reporting frequency, auditing and corrective actions would ultimately be established through the permitting process.

Fares said the facility would have systems designed to detect exceedances and trigger corrective action.

Exactly what those final monitoring and reporting requirements will look like, however, has not yet been determined because DEQ's review remains underway.

Oklahoma DEQ's public permit tracker lists Oklahoma Primary Aluminum's application as a Tier III major-source construction permit.

It remains in the technical review stage.

DEQ describes that stage as the point where the agency reviews an application for technical compliance and asks an applicant to address deficiencies.

The current public status is "Awaiting Applicant Response."

A draft permit—or draft denial—would come only after DEQ completes its review. Additional public participation is also built into the permitting process.

That means the numbers being discussed today are not necessarily the numbers that would appear in a final permit.

Fares told FOX23 the Tulsa Port of Inola was selected following a broader search for potential locations in the United States.

He pointed to the site's access to the Verdigris River and inland waterway system, rail and highways, along with the availability of electricity and Oklahoma's approach to industrial development.

The company argues the project also has national significance.

Fares said the United States currently relies heavily on imported primary aluminum, a material used in industries including aerospace, automotive, energy, electronics and defense.

Oklahoma Primary Aluminum said the Inola facility could produce up to 750,000 metric tons annually.

Fares called the project a "generational opportunity" for Oklahoma.

"The smelter is, I believe, a game changer for the state. This is a generational economic opportunity that will bring significant economic growth for the state."

The company projects at least 1,000 permanent direct jobs, along with thousands of jobs supported during construction and throughout the broader economy.

Those economic figures are projections from the developers and their economic analysis; the facility has not yet been built or approved.

The interview with Oklahoma Primary Aluminum answered several questions FOX23 has been raising throughout our coverage, but the regulatory process will ultimately determine whether the company's proposed environmental safeguards satisfy state and federal requirements.

The company's position is clear: Fares said the smelter can operate safely alongside Inola's existing farms and ranches.

DEQ's review of how the company proposes to accomplish that is still underway.

The environmental permit isn't the project's only unresolved issue.

Attorney General Gentner Drummond has taken legal action challenging the project.

With Oklahoma electing a new attorney general, FOX23 is also working to determine whether the candidates seeking that office would continue the state's current legal fight over the smelter.

FOX23 will continue following DEQ's review, the legal challenge and the commitments Oklahoma Primary Aluminum is making to the people who live and work around the proposed site.

Courtesy: www.fox23.com