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Texas likely to take in radioactive wastes from other States

Critics maintain that that Mr. Simmons’s financial might has helped him win state backing for the site. Mr. Simmons has donated more than $1 million to Gov. Rick Perry, who appoints board members to Texas agencies that oversee the waste site,

Texas Nears Approval of Multistate Nuclear-Waste Dump  WSJ, By NATHAN KOPPEL, March 23, 2012, Texas moved closer Friday to allowing low-level radioactive waste from dozens of states to be trucked in and disposed at a site in West Texas, which would become one of only four in the nation that could take low-level radioactive waste shipped from out of state.

A state agency with oversight of waste imports adopted rules Friday that help clear the way for the 1,338-acre dump near the New Mexico border, despite concerns expressed by environmentalists that such a facility may be unsafe.

Its operator, Waste Control Specialists LLC, still needs final
approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, but
expects to receive it within several weeks, said company spokesman
Chuck McDonald. The company is majority-owned by Texas billionaire
Harold Clark Simmons, one of the nation’s wealthiest men and a major
donor to Republican state and national political candidates.  Critics
contend that water near the disposal site could become contaminated by
the waste, which can include radioactive material from nuclear-power
plants, research facilities and hospitals. They also say that
truckloads of refuse will be traveling through Texas with insufficient
oversight, creating a recipe for trouble if they get into accidents.

“We do not believe the site has been adequately examined to ensure it
is not too close to groundwater,” said Cyrus Reed, conservation
director of the Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter. “And on windy days,
there is also the potential for air dispersion of radioactive
materials.”…..
Critics maintain that that Mr. Simmons’s financial might has helped
him win state backing for the site. Mr. Simmons has donated more than
$1 million to Gov. Rick Perry, who appoints board members to Texas
agencies that oversee the waste site, according to Texans for Public
Justice, an Austin-based organization that tracks political
donations….. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577299893342178550.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

March 24, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes