AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Environmentalists are slamming a proposal they say will soon make Texas the dumping grounds for nuclear waste from around the nation.
A handful of people staged a symbolic protest Thursday outside the Texas Capitol. They rolled a black barrel, with a radioactive symbol on the outside, under the state Christmas tree.
Opponents say a politically-connected company and state regulators were hoping to get approval for the plan while Texans, out shopping and spending the holidays with their families, are too distracted to pay attention.
The public comment period for allowing 36 states to dump waste in far West Texas ends Sunday, the day after Christmas.
It’s not clear when regulators might vote on the plan.
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