Waste dump official gave senator donation

By The Associated Press

The chairman of a Senate committee hearing a bill to build a radioactive waste dump in West Texas received a $10,000 campaign donation from a businessman who oversees the company that could operate the site, documents show.

Sen. J.E. "Buster" Brown, R-Lake Jackson, also is the co-author of the waste dump bill. He said he saw nothing wrong with accepting the money and plans to vote on the bill when it comes up for consideration by his Senate Natural Resources Committee.

That could happen as soon as Tuesday.

"There's not a conflict of interest," Brown said. "You could say that I couldn't vote on any piece of legislation, whatever it is, since there are campaign contributions coming in from every side."

Environmentalists and public advocacy groups disagree.

"The only reason this bill is being considered is because of the money," said Andrew Wheat, head of research for Texans for Public Justice. "The only way to get the bill through the Legislature is to give money to Brown, who will make sure it gets out of his committee and out onto the [Senate] floor for consideration."

Texans for Public Justice describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy and research organization.

The group identified Brown as one of several state officials who have accepted contributions from people tied to Waste Control Specialists and its parent company, Valhi Inc.

Harold Simmons of Dallas, chairman and chief executive officer of Valhi Inc., gave $10,000 to Brown on March 20, 2000, according to a contributions list the senator filed with the Texas Ethics Commission.

Waste Control Specialists already operates a hazardous and nuclear waste facility in Andrews County northwest of Midland. That county is now lobbying to become the site of the proposed dump.

WCS is one of the companies that could get the license for the new site.

Eric Peus, chief executive officer of WCS, said he was not aware of the donation to Brown, but said he didn't think the contribution was unusual.

"Simmons is a very large contributor to many people, including Democrats, but in general he gives to conservative Republicans," Peus said.

Under the Senate bill pending before Brown's natural resources committee, the state would license private companies to dispose of low-level radioactive waste from Texas, Maine and Vermont at a site in West Texas.

Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, is the main sponsor of the bill. Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, introduced a version in the House.

Some lawmakers say the bill would allow Texas to make good on its compact agreement with the two northeastern states. The compact passed by Congress in the 1990s is part of a nationwide plan to store low-level radioactive waste regionally.

Low-level radioactive waste is produced as a by product of medical, research and industrial activities and the operation of nuclear power plants.

The waste site would be the state's first permanent storage facility. There are 59 radioactive waste generators in Texas, according to the Bureau of Radiation Control. Many of these sites must store their waste at their own locations in specialized containers. Nuclear power plants send some of their waste to an out-of-state site, but in eight years that facility will be closed to Texas radioactive waste producers.

The bill before the Legislature would allow these producers to send their radioactive rubbish to one centralized storage site.

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