Times Beach, Missouri

Times Beach, Missouri was a small town in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, located 17 miles southwest of St. Louis and 2 miles east of Eureka, Missouri. The town was completely evacuated early in 1983 due to a dioxin contamination that made national headlines. It was the largest civilian exposure to dioxin in the country's history.

History

Times Beach was founded in 1925 as a low-cost summer resort. The town was named after the St. Louis Star-Times newspaper, which offered a free plot of land in the area with the purchase of a subscription. The town's population peaked in the 1970s with over 2,000 residents.

Dioxin Contamination

In the early 1970s, the town contracted with Russell Bliss to spray oil on the town's 23 miles of dirt roads to control the dust. Bliss had obtained the oil from a company that had used it to clean dioxin-laden waste from its manufacturing process. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) discovered the contamination in 1982 and the town was evacuated in 1983. The EPA conducted a cleanup of the site, which was completed in 1997.

Aftermath

Today, the land that was once Times Beach is now the site of Route 66 State Park. The park's visitor center has exhibits about the town and the dioxin contamination. The only building from the town that remains is the former roadhouse, which is now the park's visitor center.

See also

• Love Canal
• Agent Orange
• Environmental disaster
• Superfund