The Forgotten Disaster of Times Beach, Missouri //
Now where Route 66 State Park stands, Times Beach was founded in 1925 on the flood plain of the Meramec River, southwest of the river, in a promotion by the now-defunct St. Louis Star-Times newspaper. In a marketing campaign that only the 1920s could bring, a purchase of a 20 × 100 ft lot for $67.50 included a six-month newspaper subscription. In its early years Times Beach was primarily a summer resort and by 1970 had a small population of 1,240.
During the late 1960s, the Northeastern Pharmaceutical and Chemical Company, Inc. (NEPACCO) began operating out of a facility located near Verona, in southwestern Missouri. This facility was owned by Hoffman-Taff, a company that produced the Agent Orange herbicide for use during the Vietnam War. By the time NEPACCO ceased its operations in 1972, Hoffman-Taff had been taken over by Syntex Agribusiness. From 1970-72, NEPACCO was primarily involved in the production of hexachlorophene, an antibacterial agent used in soap, toothpaste, and common household disinfectants.
When NEPACCO first began operations, the still bottoms were sent to a waste facility in Louisiana for incineration. Although incineration was the best method to destroy dioxins at the time, it was also very expensive. Looking for less costly alternatives, NEPACCO contracted the services of the Independent Petrochemical Corporation (IPC). However, IPC, a chemical supplier company, knew very little about waste disposal, and subcontracted the NEPACCO job to Russell Martin Bliss, the owner of a small, local waste oil business.
On May 26, 1971, the owners of Shenandoah Stable, located near Moscow Mills, Missouri, Judy Piatt and Frank Hampel, paid Bliss $150 to spray the floor of their indoor arena. The waste oil sprayed, which totaled a volume of 2,000 gallons, was uncharacteristically thick, and left a pungent, burning odor. Within a few days of the spraying, birds began to drop dead from the rafters of the barns, and horses began to develop sores and lose their hair, furthermore the horses that came to the arena still became ill. After several months, 62 horses died or became so emaciated that they had to be euthanized.. Piatt and Hampel blamed these occurrences on Bliss, who denied responsibility, claiming that the material he sprayed was nothing more than old motor oil.
In 1972, Times Beach hired Bliss to oil its 23 miles of dirt roads (due to lack of funding, Times Beach was unable to pave its roads). For $2,400, Bliss sprayed approximately 160,000 gallons of waste oil in Times Beach over a period of four years. With pressure from the public, the EPA soon began investigation in Times Beach. Soil sampling was fortuitously completed on December 3, 1982, a day before Times Beach suffered its worst flood in history, as the Meramec River breached its banks and rose over 14 feet above flood stage. The residents of Times Beach were evacuated, and by the time the waters began to recede, the EPA had concluded its analysis. Results revealed dioxin concentrations as high as 0.3 ppm along the town's entire network of roads
Although the decision for relocation in 1982 was made in the best interests and safety of the Times Beach residents, the evacuation was not an easy transition. Eight hundred families had to leave their lives completely behind. Initially, parents worried about what to do and where to go for financial assistance. As they began to settle into their new lives, their logistical and financial worries were soon replaced by the fear that their children would be afflicted by sudden chronic illnesses. The psychological trauma caused by relocation was immeasurable.
