by Kate Galbraith and Jay Root | 17 May 2011
texastribune.org
The House gave preliminary approval today to a bill that will give a politically-connected operator broad authority to set the rates it charges for radioactive waste imported into Texas for disposal.
The bill, sponsored by State Rep. Tryon Lewis, R-Odessa, passed the House 108 to 36 after more than an hour of floor debate. It smooths the way for the company to accept low-level radioactive waste from several dozen states in addition to Texas and Vermont, which already have an agreement to use the West Texas site.
"Fundamentally what it represents is the biggest pork-barrel project in history," said State Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, who said that Texas was effectively establishing a monopoly with potentially unlimited profits.
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