West Texas, NOT WASTE Texas

As usual, the theme "we must have progress, or our town will die" won out over common sense.  This didn't happen recently.  The radioactive waste facility, Waste Control Specialists - Andrews, has been in operation since 2002.  The oil business in West Texas continued its "business as usual" meaning booms and busts were happening, and the bust was going on at the time.  So, "progressives" and "visionaries" (please insert the names of several industry-connected or bought public officials, yes - you may include George "Dubbya" in this crowd) began shouting that the sky was falling and Andrews was sure to die!  Never mind that Andrews has recovered from busts many times over the years.  But here was an opportunity to bring permanent "wealth" to the city and the area.  Waste Control Specialist could build its facility nearby, everyone from Andrews would get a job there, and we would all live happily ever after!

In fact many residents did not want this terrible facility to be built anywhere near Andrews.  I, for one, did not want it built anywhere near Texas.  But some loud residents, some powerful local politicians, and some BOUGHT state politicians (as usual) overwhelmed the opposition with money and political pressure.  Not to mention the various statements of "facts" regarding the safety of the facility and the promise that only "low-level" waste would be stored at the facility.  The people of Andrews were divided, many for, and many against, this facility.  With the intervention of then Governor Bush and other Texas politicians (pockets lined of course, with contributions and so forth) the facility was approved and licensed, and is now in full swing.

Guess what?  Is this a surprise?  The Waste Control Specialists facility has been cited for six violations of various magnitude since 2004.  Some of the violations were "fixed" (though the venting system is not functioning properly at the moment), but the major violation is ongoing, and will be ongoing for...who can say?  The Texas Environmental Quality Commission (surprise again!) voted to allow this "exception" to regulations as long as Waste Control Specialists promised to fully comply...someday.  The violation?  Radioactive waste of the "hottest kind" was only to be stored at the facility for a year, before being transferred to permanent disposal sites.  This waste disintegrates rapidly, releasing carcinogens that can cause bone cancer and other diseases.  Not only was the waste kept too long (it is still there) but asphalt pads were found to have leaks, which of course means that leaking radiation will be introduced into the ground, and eventually into the West Texas water supply.  Don't worry folks...the State and the owners now tell us the cracks, though not repaired, are not a significant source of radiation leakage.  Don't you feel better?  I don't.

Now plans are in the works to begin bringing in waste from thirty-six other states and store this radioactive waste at the leaking facility.  This same idea was proposed in Ohio but the people there defeated it immediately.  They don't want waste from other states.  They don't even want their OWN nuclear waste.  That's right, they want to ship it to Texas...specifically to the Waste Control Specialists facility near Andrews.  On top of this, other nuclear waste sites, closed because of LEAKING facilities, are trying to gain approval to ship their waste to ... can you guess...WEST TEXAS!  That wasn't hard at all, was it, class?

The facility in Andrews was sold to a very anxious group of people who fell for the lie that Andrews would somehow die if the nuclear waste facility was not built there.  Actually it is much closer to Eunice, New Mexico, and offers the same hazards to people there.  The Eunice residents had no input as they were not residents of Texas, though they will share the same fate as the people of Andrews.  The facility was to hold only medical waste and other "low-grade" nuclear waste.  As it turns out, the definition of "low-grade" is not static and has been changed by Congress to include weapons grade waste.  No surprise there, either, kids.

I have just returned to the Permian Basin, but I am just as opposed to this facility as I was when I left the area.  The are things to be done that can actually limit the waste stored at this facility and keep new parties (States) from dumping their waste in Texas.  The main thing of course, is to demand these limitations and hold politicians, as well as local "leaders," accountable for monitoring the facility, and also accountable when safety violations occur.  I do not have the facts at the moment to assess what economic impact this facility has had on Andrews and West Texas.  Frankly, I do not care.  The negative impact on the environment, and on you and me, cannot be measured in bribes...I mean campaign contributions, community grants from the company, and so forth.  And further more, I am extremely opposed to, and ashamed of, the fact that such leaders as George W. Bush, as well as many local "community leaders," have allowed West Texas to be labeled WASTE, Texas.  There is time to limit nuclear storage, prevent extremely dangerous waste from entering Texas, and above all, to once and for all time declare that this is West Texas, not Waste, Texas!