Times Beach, Missouri was a small town of 2,240 residents in St. Louis County, Missouri, 17 miles (27 km) southwest of St. Louis and two miles (3 km) east of Eureka, Missouri. The town was completely evacuated in the mid-1980s due to a dioxin scare that made national headlines. It was the largest civilian exposure to dioxin in the United States. Image File history File links MOMap-doton-Times_Beach_(historical). ... St. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Eureka is a city located in St. ... Space-filling model of 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin Structure of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) Dioxin is the popular name for the family of halogenated organic compounds, the most common consisting of polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs). ...

History

Times Beach was founded in 1925 on a floodplain along the Meramec River in a promotion by the now-defunct St. Louis Star-Times newspaper. A purchase of a 20 x 100 ft (6 by 30 m) lot for $67.50 included a six-month newspaper subscription. Gravel floodplain of a glacial river near the Snow Mountains in Alaska, 1902. ... The Meramec River Looking North from Route 66 State Park Canoers enjoy a float trip on the Meramec below Leasburg The Meramec River is the longest free-flowing waterway in Missouri -- it wanders some 350 kilometers (220 miles) through six Missouri Ozark Highland counties: Dent, Phelps, Crawford, Franklin, Jefferson, and...

In its early years, the town was primarily a summer resort, but the Great Depression, followed by gasoline rationing during World War II combined to make summer homes impractical, so the town became a community of low-income housing. In the years immediately prior to its evacuation, Times Beach had become a lower-middle class town. Prone to flooding throughout its history—its first buildings were built on stilts—the town experienced a devastating flood three weeks before an announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which led to the town's evacuation by 1985 and complete demolition by 1992. The town was disincorporated by executive order of Missouri governor John Ashcroft in 1985. Resorts combine a hotel and a variety of recreations, such as swimming pools A resort is a place used for relaxation or recreation, attracting visitors for holidays or vacations. ... The Great Depression was a time of economic down turn, which started after the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. ... Gasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting mostly of hydrocarbons and enhanced with benzene or iso-octane to increase octane ratings, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... Rationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services: it restricts how much people are allowed to buy or consume. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... EPA redirects here. ... The Governors of Missouri since its statehood in 1820 are: Categories: Lists of United States governors | Governors of Missouri ... John David Ashcroft (born May 9, 1942) was the 79th Attorney General of the United States. ...

The site of Times Beach now houses a 409 acre (1.7 km²) state park commemorating Route 66—the famous highway that stretched from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California and passed by the community—as well as the history of the Times Beach area. The park opened in 1999. In 2001, the EPA petitioned to have Times Beach removed from its Superfund list. Alternate meanings of Route 66: New Jersey State Highway 66, Interstate 66, and a company named after the route US Highway 66 or Route 66 was and is the most famous road in the United States highway system and quite possibly the most famous and storied highway in the world. ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Nickname: Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: State California County Los Angeles County Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government  - Type Mayor-Council  - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D)  - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo  - Governing body City Council Area  - City  498. ... EPA redirects here. ... Checking the status of a cleanup site Superfund is the common name for the United States environmental law that is officially known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 to 9675, which was enacted by the United States Congress on December 11...

The Dioxin scare

Plagued with a dust problem in the early 1970s due to its 23 miles (37 km) of dirt roads and lack of pavement funds, the city of Times Beach hired waste hauler Russell Bliss to oil the roads in the town in 1971. From 1972 to 1976, Bliss sprayed waste oil on the roads at a cost of six cents per gallon used. The roads were later paved.

Bliss had also taken a contract with Northeastern Pharmaceutical and Chemical Company (NEPACCO), which operated a facility producing hexachlorophene in Verona, Missouri. Some parts of the facility had been used for the production of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, and the waste clay and water contained levels of dioxin some 2,000 times higher than the dioxin content in Agent Orange. Bliss claimed he was unaware that the waste contained dioxin. Hexachlorophene also known as Nabac is an antiseptic agent. ... Verona is a town located in Lawrence County, Missouri. ... Vietnam. ... Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000... Space-filling model of 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin Structure of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) Dioxin is the popular name for the family of halogenated organic compounds, the most common consisting of polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs). ... Vietnam. ...

Bliss had first used the technique of spraying waste oil to control dust in horse stables. When a March 1971 spraying resulted in the death of 62 horses, the owners of the stable suspected Bliss, who assured them it was just used engine oil. But Bliss had mixed the NEPACCO waste with waste oil. The owners followed Bliss' activities, and after other stables experienced similar problems, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began investigating, and, in late 1979, a NEPACCO employee confessed the company's practice of handling dioxin. The government sued NEPACCO in 1980. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, is recognized as the leading United States agency for protecting the public health and safety of people. ...

The EPA visited Times Beach in mid-1982, and, in November 1982, stories began to appear in the press about the discovery of dioxin in Times Beach. Another soil sample was taken December 3, 1982, and the test result showed dioxin levels some 100 times higher than the one part per billion generally considered to be safe. EPA redirects here. ... December 3 is the 337th (in leap years the 338th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On December 5, 1982 the Meramec River flooded, causing an evacuation as more than 95% of the city was covered with 10 feet or more of water. Flood stage was 18.5 feet and the water crested at 42.88 feet. December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Meramec River Looking North from Route 66 State Park Canoers enjoy a float trip on the Meramec below Leasburg The Meramec River is the longest free-flowing waterway in Missouri -- it wanders some 350 kilometers (220 miles) through six Missouri Ozark Highland counties: Dent, Phelps, Crawford, Franklin, Jefferson, and...

On December 23, 1982, the EPA announced it had identified dangerous levels of dioxin in Times Beach's soil. Panic spread through the town, with many illnesses, miscarriages, and animal deaths attributed, rightly or wrongly, to the dioxin. President Ronald Reagan formed a dioxin task force. At the time, dioxin was hailed as "the most toxic chemical synthesized by man," based on its extreme toxicity in guinea pigs. December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (358th in leap years). ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981 – 1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967 – 1975). ... Binomial name Cavia porcellus (Linnaeus, 1758) Guinea pigs (also called cavies) are rodents belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia, originally indigenous to the Andes. ...

On February 23, 1983, the EPA announced the town's buyout for $32 million. Later, PCBs were also found in Times Beach soil. By 1985, the town was evacuated except for one elderly couple who refused to leave, and the site was quarantined. Residents were shunned in their new communities by people who feared the effects of exposure to dioxin were contagious. Many of the town's citizens sued Bliss, NEPACCO, and its various subcontractors. Although the ethics and legality of Bliss' practices have been questioned, Bliss was never implicated or convicted of any crime. February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Labelling transformers containing PCBs Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a class of organic compounds with 1 to 10 chlorine atoms are attached to biphenyl and a general structure of C12H10-xClx. ... Quarantine, a medical term (from Italian: quaranta giorni, forty days) is the act of keeping people or animals separated for a period of time before, for instance, allowing them to enter another country. ...

About 265,000 tons of contaminated soil and debris from Times Beach and 28 other sites in eastern Missouri was incinerated from March 1996 to June 1997 in an incinerator built and operated on the site by Syntex, the parent company of NEPACCO. The cleanup cost the government a total of $110 million, $10 million of which was reimbursed by Syntex. After the cleanup, the incinerator was dismantled and the site was turned over to the State of Missouri. Official language(s) English Capital Jefferson City Largest city Kansas City Largest metro area St. ... Laboratorios Syntex SA was a pharmaceutical company formed in Mexico City in 1944 by Russell Marker to manufacture therapeutic steroids from the Mexican yam. ...

Times Beach, along with the Love Canal section of Niagara Falls, New York, share a special place in United States environmental history as the two sites that in large part lead to the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). CERCLA is much more commonly referred to as "Superfund" because of the fund established within the act to help the clean-up of locations like Times Beach. Love Canal (1981) Love Canal is a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York, located at (43. ... Checking the status of a cleanup site CERCLA is an acronym for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 to 9675 (commonly known as the Superfund), which was enacted by the United States Congress on December 11, 1980 in response to the Love Canal...

Subsequent research on the effects of dioxin on humans and other mammals has led some experts to question whether the evacuation of the town was necessary, sometimes citing the example of Seveso, Italy, the site of a disaster in 1976 that exposed residents to larger levels of dioxin than those of Times Beach and whose subsequent cleanup allowed the city to continue to exist. Seveso is an Italian town and comune of 19,872 inhabitants situated in the Province of Milan, in the Region of Lombardy. ...

Today, the land that was once Times Beach is now Route 66 State Park. One building from the town still exists: the park's visitor center was once a roadhouse from Times Beach's glory days, and was the EPA's headquarters for the area. The Meramec River flows past Route 66 State Park in Missouri. ...

External links

• Satellite Image from Google Maps (The old Times Beach roads are vaguely visible.)
• "Times Beach, Mo., Board Moves to Seal Off Town", New York Times, April 27, 1983.
• "Times Beach, Mo., Votes Itself Out of Existence", New York Times, April 3, 1985.
• US Department of Justice news release announcing that the clean up of Times Beach is complete.
• The US Environmental Protection Agency's one page summary about Times Beach
• The US EPA's National Priorities List document regarding the Times Beach Site.