Times Beach

This is a former town outside St. Louis, Missouri that was abandoned by government order in 1984 after it was found to be contaminated with dioxin.

A chemical company across the state manufactured an anti-microbial agent. Dioxin was a byproduct of this process. Incineration of this chemical was expensive, so a local man was contracted to remove the dioxin in the early 1970s.

The man mixed several loads of the dioxin with other waste oil, then sprayed it on roads and public facilities to reduce dust. People and animals began to experience adverse health effects.

It wasn’t until the early 1980s that tests showed dioxin levels were dangerously high in Times Beach. In 1982, a massive flood inundated the town. It was feared that the receding floodwaters deposited dioxin all throughout the area.

The population of approximately 2,000 people was relocated, the town was dis-incorporated, and an incinerator was built on the site. Clean-up would take 15 years and cost $200 million.

The man who sprayed the dioxin claimed to be ignorant of its health impacts. In the 1970s, research into dioxin wasn’t comprehensive, so he was not legally required to handle it in any specific way, and thus avoided any criminal charges. The company which manufactured the dioxin settled several lawsuits.

Why I Looked It Up

I remember seeing 60 Minutes segment about this, many, many years ago.

And then, in Rebels Against the Future, the city was mentioned alongside other disasters like Chernobyl and Bhopal. I had no recollection of the name of the city, but in researching this, I remembered the news segment I saw.