Rep. Lon Burnam was the voice of opposition to a bill creating a radioactive waste dump.

State House members voted Tuesday to create a low level radioactive waste site in Texas. The debate lasted for hours, but in the end a vast majority saw the need for the waste site.

Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, was the main voice of opposition to HB 1567.

"This is a bad bill," Burnam said. "Texas could end up being the nuclear waste dump for every other commercial facility in the country."

Currently, Texas has no facility for the safe and permanent disposal of low-level radioactive waste. Instead, it's shipped to disposal sites in Utah and South Carolina.

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	Radioactive waste The House approved a bill creating a radioactive waste dump site in Texas.

But, South Carolina will no longer accept Texas waste in five years. The proposed Texas site, would likely be in West Texas, where residents of Andrews County welcome the idea.

If the bill passes, radioactive waste will be transported throughout Texas en route to its final destination. It will go through Houston, San Marcos, Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown -- pretty much every city along major roads.

"The legislation opens up a host of homeland security issues as well as transportation issues. We have not answered those questions," Burnam said.

Those who support the bill said because it would involve low-level radioactive waste, it's not too risky for Texas.

"When you stop and think about it, you walk outside this building and you have normal natural occurring radioactive material everywhere. This building is radioactive -- this granite in this building – so, it's all around us and some of this stuff is not going to be any higher than the background readings that we have here today," Rep. Buddy West, R-Odessa, said.

The idea of creating a low-level radioactive waste site has been debated in previous sessions, but has failed to pass in the Senate.

"Maybe we can carry it on to fruition this time where we can make it become a feasible part of the state's laws," West said.

Two Republicans have sponsored a similar bill in the Senate. That bill waits approval by the Senate Natural Resources Committee.

According to Robert Baker, a scientist at Texas Tech University, western Andrews county has more than 800 feet of clay beneath the surface.

He said that's more than enough to contain low-level radioactive waste beyond the time needed for it to decay.