Clinton Signs Nuclear-waste-site Legislation

U.S. President Bill Clinton, the weekend of September 19, approved a bill that allows Maine and Vermont to send low-level radioactive waste to a proposed site in Texas near the border with Mexico.

According to the bill, Texas would accept radioactive waste from Vermont and Maine, receiving U.S.$25 million from each. The proposed site also will store nuclear waste from Texas.

The bill signed by the president omitted amendments originally passed by Congress, which would have allowed Texas to exclude additional states from joining the compact.

The Texas/Maine/Vermont Radioactive Waste Dump Compact sanctions Texas officials to start construction procedures. The Texas legislature will vote in January on funding construction.

The site of construction is the town of Sierra Blanc, 30 kilometers from the U.S./Mexico border.

Environmental groups maintain that the area around the site is not safe for storing radioactive waste because it is prone to earthquakes and is situated on an aquifer--reportedly a scarce resource in the Sierra Blanca region.

Mexico officials also oppose the proposed low-level nuclear-waste-storage site. The Mexican Congress's Permanent Commission said that it violates the 1983 La Paz Agreement between the two countries. The treaty prohibits the construction of such projects within 100 kilometers of the neighboring country's border.

They said they probably would fight the site within the context of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or an international court.