“What we’re excited about is as soon as we get the word from TCEQ, we’re going to start construction,” WCS spokesman Chuck McDonald said.
– Edited By Tom Lamar –
Hearings will begin next week in Austin on proposed rules that would allow low-level radioactive nuclear waste from 36 states to be buried in Texas near the New Mexico border.
Environmentalists oppose the plan, saying toxic substances could leak into groundwater, but Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists, which operates the disposal site west of Andrews, contends that it will be safe.
Many area residents applaud any expansion as a way to bring more jobs and prosperity to the region.
The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission will hear public comment Dec. 9 at the offices of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Speakers will be allowed 10 minutes each.
Written comments will be accepted through Dec. 26.
Officials at Waste Control Specialists said they’re pleased the process is moving along and they hope to start construction of their disposal facility in December.
“What we’re excited about is as soon as we get the word from TCEQ, we’re going to start construction,” WCS spokesman Chuck McDonald said. “This process is 20 years in the making.”
The wording of the proposed rules was approved Nov. 13 by the eight-member commission, which comprises six people appointed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and two by Vermont's governor.
Vermont and Texas have a compact that allows both states to bury nuclear waste at the site.
If the commission adopts the rules, low-level radioactive waste from 36 other states could be also dumped at the site. Requests for importation would be considered case by case.
The company got its license to dispose of low-level nuclear waste last year. Federal waste will also be disposed of at the site, in a separate location.
If the proposed rules are approved, the site would start taking worker clothing, glass, metal and other low-level materials now stored at nuclear power plants, hospitals, universities and research labs.