Notable case, Times Beach (St. Louis County), Missouri, United States
Times Beach
A Missouri town whose unpaved roads were sprayed in the early 1970s with waste oil contaminated with dioxin. It was evacuated in full, dissolved as a municipality and cleaned up by incineration.
At a glance
- Status
- Remediated
- Area
- 259 ha on land1
- Media
- soil
- Kind of site
- chemical works, illegal dumping
- National list
- Removed 2001National Priorities List
- Area. A one-square-mile site (about 259 ha), the whole territory of the former city.
- People affected. All residents of the former city relocated by 1986 (EPA); the source consulted gives no number.
Contaminants
Organic compounds
National list
Deleted from the list (clean-up complete)United States
Superfund National Priorities List (NPL)
- Listed
- 1983
- Removed
- 2001
- Official id
- MOD980685226 ↗
About this list
The list of contaminated sites that are national priorities for federal clean-up under CERCLA (Superfund, 1980), kept by EPA (40 CFR Part 300, Appendix B). Listing makes a site eligible for long-term remedial action paid by the Superfund; sites are proposed and then listed through Federal Register notices, and deleted when no further response is needed.
Includes federal facilities (Defense, Energy). Dates are the years of the Federal Register notices (final listing, deletion); 'listed' is empty for proposed sites. Some sites still on the list have had partial deletions. Contaminants and media: contaminants of concern from decision documents (RODs, ROD amendments, ESDs; EPA, fiscal years 1981-2024, SEMS document HQ/406315); for sites with no decision document (mostly proposed or recently listed) the contaminants are those EPA records for the site (FOIA-015, document HQ/406366), with no medium. 'Deleted' means EPA found no further response needed, which can include land-use controls still in force.
Status
Remediated
Cleanup finished in 1997; since 1999 the land is Route 66 State Park. A 2012 EPA reassessment concluded that current use of the park poses no significant health risk to visitors or workers.
Story
In the early 1970s the city of Times Beach, 20 miles south-west of St. Louis, had its roads sprayed with waste oil to keep the dust down. During a 1982 investigation EPA found that the oil was contaminated with dioxin. In the same period the Meramec River flooded the city and residents had to leave their homes.
The Centers for Disease Control recommended that they should not return. In 1983 EPA transferred $30 million to FEMA for the permanent relocation of residents and businesses, completed by 1986.
A temporary incinerator was built on site and ran from March 1996 to June 1997, treating 265,354 tons of dioxin-contaminated material from 27 sites in eastern Missouri, of which 37,234 tons were dug up at Times Beach. The land was then backfilled with clean soil and revegetated.
Timeline
- 1982EPA finds dioxin in the oil used on the roads; the Meramec floods the city.
- 1983Permanent relocation of residents funded; site placed on the National Priorities List.
- 1986Relocation of all residents completed.
- 1996The incinerator starts operating.
- 1997Soil excavation and treatment finished; incinerator dismantled.
- 1999Route 66 State Park opens.
- 2001Deleted from the National Priorities List.
Remediation
- 1989erosion controlSpur levees to slow floodwater and limit erosion of contaminated soil.
- 1997incinerationSoil excavated and thermally treated in a temporary on-site incinerator (1996–1997).
From the literature
Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.
Plants
- Cucurbita pepoZucchini, pumpkinDioxins and furansEvidence: greenhouse
Fungi
- Phanerochaete chrysosporiumDioxins and furansEvidence: laboratory
- Phlebia brevisporaDioxins and furansEvidence: laboratory
Sources
- Times Beach, MO – Cleanup Activities, US EPA, 2026
- Times Beach, Missouri (coordinates), Wikipedia, 2026
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.