Unstable Ground

Businessman Michael Shelton thought he had beaten the system. Then he learned the legislature can be as unpredictable as the salt domes where he wants to store toxic waste.

A A A Comments By Lauren Kern Thursday, Jun 21 2001

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On Monday, May 14, Michael Shelton was sitting in the Senate gallery when the TNRCC bill was taken up for final consideration. Three amendments were adopted, five were withdrawn, one failed. Then came the moment of truth: Floor Amendment No. 10, "The commission by rule shall prohibit the storage, processing, or disposal of hazardous waste in a solution-mined salt dome cavern…" The amendment passed by voice vote with no debate and no objections. "There wasn't even a hiccup," says Cook's aide.

It was over, SEM's project was outlawed, and the normally unflappable Shelton was stunned. "Please don't write that, because I don't want the other side to see me bleed, but yeah," he says, "I was just blown away…People that voted not to add the amendment in the Senate Natural Resources Committee went along with it Monday."

Retired from the sulfur plant that dramatically changed his county's landscape, Harold McVey now fights pollution.

Deron Neblett

Retired from the sulfur plant that dramatically changed his county's landscape, Harold McVey now fights pollution.

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No one knows exactly what happened behind the scenes. Senator Brown did not return a phone call for comment. Perhaps the Texas legislature is as unpredictable as a salt dome sinkhole; Cook thinks that Brown simply thought the amendment through and suddenly resolved his internal conflict between business development and water quality. Or perhaps, in a case of supreme irony, Shelton the master manipulator was simply outmaneuvered: A source close to the issue says that Shelton was the victim of old-fashioned vote-swapping. Brown needed Armbrister to vote his way on other issues, so he went along with the amendment for Wharton County.

As for Harold McVey, he doesn't care much about how it happened, although he does think he'll break Republican ranks and vote for Armbrister and Cook when they come up for re-election. In the meantime, he's going to replace the sign in front of his house that reads, "No Toxic Waste in Wharton County." The new sign, he jokes, will make his address Mockingbird Lane. "Because I'm singing," he says, "like a mockingbird. I sing all kinds of songs."

But McVey would do well to remember the words of Shelton's mother. Shelton says he's not taking no for an answer. And he talks like a man who may have found another way to beat the system.by lauren kern

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