TEXAS: Not in My Backyard

TEXAS: Not in My Backyard

As much as Texans like to brag, their state has one distinction that few are proud of: it is the nation's leading producer of hazardous waste. Some 11,000 Texas businesses generate 70 million tons of the stuff annually. But last week Texas became the first state to ban temporarily the development of new commercial disposal sites for such waste and to stop the expansion of existing ones. "No more will hazardous-waste facilities be rammed through the permit process over the objections of local communities," said Governor Ann Richards. "No more will they be located near schools or residential areas."

Last year...

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