|
Listen to this article here
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
LAWTON, Okla.— Some residents of Lawton, Oklahoma and citizens of the nearby Comanche Nation are joining forces to oppose the construction of the Westwin cobalt and nickel refinery, telling the Black Wall Street Times it would harm the environment and the health of families living near the site.
With support from Honor the Earth, a national environmental and Indigenous organization, local residents have organized a town hall meeting to inform the public of the potential dangers the refinery will bring.
It takes place on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. inside Watchetaker Hall at the Comanche Nation, located at 584 NW Bingo Rd, Lawton, Oklahoma.
According to the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Westwin refinery will become the nation’s only critical minerals pilot plant after its completion in just a few months. State leaders are excited.
“I’m proud of Westwin Elements’ investment in Oklahoma and their commitment to America’s critical mineral independence. With the help of companies like Westwin, Oklahoma is securing the critical mineral supply chain and becoming a national leader in this industry,” Governor Stitt said in an August press release.
On the ground, however, residents paint a darker picture.
Resident pushback against Westin cobalt, nickel refinery
Larry Cotton is a 75-year-old Lawton resident who lives just a few miles away from the OK SW Rail Industrial Park, where Westin Elements is building the metal refinery. Cotton says he learned about the plant during a public city meeting in March.
“We don’t need that hazardous of a plant in such close proximity to families with children,” Cotton told the Black Wall Street Times.
“There’s a housing edition three-eighths of a mile from that plant that’s got over 70 homes in it. These are younger adults, and they’ve got younger children. The younger children are more vulnerable by the heavy metal,” Cotton said.
Some citizens of the Comanche Nation agree. Located nine miles north of Lawton, the Comanche Nation has roughly 17,000 enrolled citizens. Around 7,000 of them live in Lawton.
“I’m opposed to the refinery because of the possible health problems, not to mention the environmental impact it poses to Mother Earth,” Comanche Nation citizen Gen Hadley told the Black Wall Street Times.
She learned about the Westwin refinery during one of her Tribe’s monthly meetings last year. She says everyone should be concerned, but especially her fellow Tribal citizens.
“As land protectors, we have to take immediate action for the sake of the next seven generations. It shouldn’t just be Native people concerned, but all people that reside in that particular region, as well as all of Oklahoma,” Hadley said.
Potential harms of Westwin refinery in Lawton
Opponents of the project point to negative health effects and question whether the company will recruit local talent in a community that largely lacks the necessary workforce training.
For instance, depending on the dose and length of exposure to nickel, it can cause severe health effects, including contact dermatitis, cardiovascular disease, asthma, lung fibrosis, and respiratory tract cancer, according to the National Library of Medicine. Cobalt can also cause cancer in humans.
“Cobalt should be handled as a carcinogen–with extreme caution, according to the New Jersey Department of Health’s hazardous substance fact sheet.
In addition, Westwin Elements has never demonstrated a history of completing a project of any kind.
State leaders not worried about health, environmental concerns
Supporters of the project, such as Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, believe the plant would help aid in America’s energy independence and increase local jobs.
“Oklahoma is proud to lead the effort of reshoring critical minerals to the United States. This venture aligns with our efforts to advance economic development and supply chain recruitment,” Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Workforce and Economic Development Matt Pinnell said in August. “We look forward to assisting Westwin Elements as they begin this project.”
Westwin Elements CEO KaLeigh Long has touted her international connections with U.S. and world governments. One of those governments involves the Democratic Republic of Congo, where brutal child labor is involved in the process of mining cobalt and other rare earth metals.
“I was briefly in Congo, so I supported a number of Congolese individuals who were in opposition to the Kabila regime at the time,” Long told KSWO in November. “And my interest in Congo really started as a humanitarian one. There have been millions of people who have died in Congo. I’m a devout Christian and I was really compelled by the human rights crises in Congo.”
Westwin refinery ties to Congo
But aside from humanitarian concerns, Long said she attended grad school at a national security school called the Institute of World Politics. That’s when she learned of the U.S. national security interest in having more control over the cobalt industry. From there, her vision for the Westwin refinery was born.
It’s unclear how she plans to source the minerals from the Congo without supporting child slave labor.
KaLeigh Long, a former lobbyist from Oklahoma, has turned her hand to refining battery metals. Her contacts within the Republican establishment have helped her raise funds to build a plant in her home state. And her connections in Kinshasa have enabled her to forge crucial links for sourcing ore.
Africa Intelligence
Currently, China controls the vast majority of the cobalt industry, and Chinese companies face accusations of facilitating deadly conditions for child labor that amounts to slave wages.
“Fully four-fifths of the world’s cobalt is buried under the ground in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (“DRC”), and the mining and refining of the mineral is dominated by Chinese companies,” according to a report from the Congressional Executive Commission on China.
A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2023 would ban the import of products that contain minerals mined through child labor in Congo.
Organizers ready to fight Westwin refinery
Ultimately, though they lack the financial or political power of those supporting the project, opponents organizing against Westwin’s cobalt/nickel refinery say they won’t give up without a fight.
“If it can happen here, it can happen in your neighborhood,” Hadley said.
Hadley and Cotton hope residents will attend Thursday’s meeting in Watchetaker Hall, which will feature expert panelists and a potluck dinner.
“We need the residents that’s in our area to stand up and continue to fight against this very dangerous, heavy metal refinery,” Cotton said.
Ward 6 Lawton City Councilor Dr. Robert Weger, who serves the district in which the Westwin refinery project is being constructed, did not immediately respond to multiple requests for comment. Dr. Weger was the only person to vote against the project in December.