Texas House OKs expansion of radioactive waste site

The Texas House on Tuesday passed a measure that could increase the amount of radioactive waste dumped in Texas and might also enrich a chief contributor to Gov. Rick Perry along the way.

The legislation, passed on a 108-36 vote, would allow the state to accept out-of-state, low-level radioactive waste to be disposed of in the Waste Control Specialists facility in Andrews County in West Texas. Senate Bill 1504 also calls for a surcharge on most out-of-state waste to be paid to the State of Texas.

The bill now returns to the Senate to consider House changes.

Waste Control is a subsidiary of Valhi, whose board chairman is Harold Simmons, a Dallas investor who has given at least $1.12 million to Perry's campaigns since 2001, making him the second-highest individual donor during that period. Simmons gave Perry's campaign $500,000 in 2010; that year, the company also spent as much as $430,000 on Capitol lobbyists, according to a review of state records.


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http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/texas-house-oks-expansion-of-radioactive-waste-site-1481825.html