Andrews County
| Andrews County, Texas | |
|---|---|
Andrews County Courthouse in Andrews
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 Location in the U.S. state of Texas |
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 Texas's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | 1910 |
| Seat | Andrews |
| Largest city | Andrews |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,501 sq mi (3,888 km2) |
| • Land | 1,501 sq mi (3,888 km2) |
| • Water | 0.4 sq mi (1 km2), 0.02% |
| Population (est.) | |
| • (2014) | 17,477 |
| • Density | 9.9/sq mi (3.8/km2) |
| Congressional district | 11th |
| Time zone | Central: UTC−6/−5 |
| Website | www |
Andrews County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,786. Its county seat is Andrews. Andrews is named for Richard Andrews, a soldier of the Texas Revolution. The county was created August 21, 1876, from Tom Green County and organized in 1910.
The Andrews Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Andrews County.
Andrews County was represented in the Texas House of Representatives by George E. "Buddy" West from 1993 to June 25, 2008, when he died. He was succeeded in January 2009 by fellow Republican Tryon D. Lewis, who had defeated West for the Republican nomination in the April 8, 2008, primary election.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,501 square miles (3,890 km2), of which 1,501 square miles (3,890 km2) is land and 0.4 square miles (1.0 km2) (0.02%) is water. The county contains many playa lakes, the two largest being Baird lake and Shafter Lake.
In the west part of Andrews County on the border with New Mexico (see the state border issue below), a private company, Waste Control Specialists (WCS), formerly owned by the late Harold Simmons and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, operates a 14,000 acres (57 km2) site. The company was awarded a license to dispose of radioactive waste by the TCEQ in 2009. The permit allows for disposal of radioactive materials such as uranium, plutonium and thorium from commercial power plants, academic institutions and medical schools. The company finished construction on the project in 2011 and began disposing of waste in 2012. There are two radioactive waste landfills at the site. The 30-acre compact site is owned and regulated by the State of Texas for use by Texas, Vermont, and up to 36 other states. The 90-acre federal site is owned by the United States federal government and is used for Department of Energy and other federal waste. The company employs 130 people or about 1% of the total labor force in Andrews and Andrews County.
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