– Edited By Chris Reed –
The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission voted in favor for allowing 36 other states to dispose of their LLW at the Waste Control Specialists (WCS) site in Texas.
The 5-2 vote by the Commission came after last-minute legal maneuvering on Monday by the environmentalists failed to delay the meeting.
WCS CEO Bill Lindquist told reporters he is expecting some legal challenges to the commission's decision, but the company is moving ahead with construction of the landfill. The first phase of construction should be completed by this November. The second phase of the site development will be used to store federal waste and should be completed in early 2012.
While the facility will now be able to accept waste from three dozen states, the commission guaranteed Vermont (which paid $25 million to have two members on the commission) 20 percent capacity in the landfill. This will allow enough space for the decommissioning of Vermont Yankee when its license expires.