ODESSA, Texas — A bad bill. That's what the Texas GOP is calling House Bill 2692. The bill was co-authored by Texas Representative Brooks Landgraf and is designed to ban high levels of radioactive waste from being dumped or stored anywhere in Texas.
However, the Texas GOP official Twitter account put out a series of tweets saying that the bill removes safety guidelines to dump nuclear waste in Texas while also stating that dumped waste no longer has to be buried in canisters but rather spread freely.
The tweets also call the community to action asking people to call Landgraf's office voicing their displeasure as well as other Texas representatives telling them to not set the bill. Included is Representative Tom Craddick.
These are just two of the tweets put out by the Texas GOP regarding House Bill 2692.
Representative Craddick has spoken out about this bill in the past. As the bill would reduce fees and surcharges associated with dumping waste at the waste facility in Andrews County, more waste would make its way to the facility.
Craddick worries about the potential dangers that could pose.
"Remember, they’re gonna be trucking to get this material there. What happens if you have an accident or an explosion? What does that do? Well it could you know shut down the oil and gas industry in the Permian right there for a while," Craddick said.
Craddick also went on to say that he doesn't believe that the bill would have much of an impact even if it did pass because he said that the federal government has total control on whether the waste is moved there or not.
We did reach out to Representative Landgraf for comment. Landgraf's team is aware of the comments and the situation as a whole, but he was unavailable for comment at this time.