If you voted for Republican (yes, Republican!) Senator Kel Seliger, I wonder if you knew what you were getting. It turns out that one of the people who supposedly represents West Texans and who supposedly has the best interest of all Texans, particularly his own constituents, at heart, is in fact one of those very people who want to WASTE TEXAS.
Yes, it's true. Senator Kel Seliger not only voted for, but SPONSORED the bill (Senate Bill 1504), which passed the Texas Senate on April 13th. Senator Seliger is not only proud of this "accomplishment" but is loudly crowing on his website that he PASSED this bill. I mean, really, isn't this great deed something Seliger will proudly relate to his grandchildren and great-children down the road sometime. Grandpa Seliger could tell his decendants how he "passed" SB 1504 and opened the floodgates for radioactive waste to flow into Texas from at least thirty-six other states.
Oh, but SB 1504 does more than just allows interstate nuclear waste to flow like sewer into our great state. It allows (I am NOT making this up) Waste Control Specialists (WCS) to SET THE RATES that the other states would pay to dump their radioactive waste here. The state will not be regulate those rates. What a stupid rule, but what a BOON for WCS! I am probably not too far afield in assuming that WCS will collect a handsome fee for their services. But don't worry; the State of Texas will get its five percent, and the County of Andrews will get its five percent as well.
Here is what is so frustrating. No matter how many people around the state protested, no matter how many inspectors and scientists turned in negative reports about the WCS site near Andrews, and no matter that WCS has ALREADY failed to comply with various parts of their license, or failed to correct deficiencies, the project continues and grows in leaps and bounds. Remember the concept of "the majority rules?" In this case, the "majority" consists of approximately six hundred people from Andrews, the Andrews city council and the Andrews County commissioners, miscellaneous "civic leaders," two state commissions, and of course, Kel Seliger and the majority of the Texas Senate. From my count, this amounts to maybe one thousand people. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the state of Texas is listed as 24,782,302. The Texas Secretary of State website states that there are over 13 MILLION registered voters in Texas. It is outrageous that out of over 13 million voters, less than one thousand people, led by Senator Seliger, have the power to counteract the will of so many other Texans and allow the WCS disaster to continue unabated.
So remember, if you want to put a face on one of those who wants to WASTE TEXAS, your own Senator Kel Selinger is more than happy to be that face, the poster boy for WASTE TEXAS. Yes, Mr. Seliger, you must be so proud!
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