West Texas County To Vote On Funding Nuke Site

"The truth is that the current economic crisis has dried up credit markets for higher risk investments," she said.

A watchdog group in Texas said taxpayers should not approve the measure.

"I would hope the people make the decision that this is not a good idea," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of the liberal watchdog group Public Citizen of Texas. "I hope that they recognize that this is nothing more than a bailout for billionaires and turn this down."

McDonald disagreed.

"I think there's a significant difference between a bailout and entering a joint venture with the county," he said.

The company wants the new disposal area of the site finished in time to apply for some of $6 billion in stimulus money tied to disposing waste from federal cleanup at sites around the country, McDonald said. Those funds need to be spent by 2011, meaning a delay could cause the company to miss out on those opportunities.

The county and the state each get 5 percent of the disposal site's annual gross revenues, part of legislation passed in recent years.