The town of Times Beach, Missouri was founded in 1925 as a resort town by the St. Louis Star-Times. However, after the Great Depression, the town fell into disrepair and by the 1970s, it was a low-income suburb with severe dust problems. To combat the dust, the town hired Russell Bliss, who sprayed a mixture of oil and waste on the roads. Unbeknownst to the residents, the waste oil contained dioxin, a highly toxic carcinogen produced as a byproduct of Agent Orange production at a nearby chemical facility.
Over the years, Bliss sprayed over 100,000 gallons of the contaminated oil on the town's roads, causing widespread illness and death among residents and animals. The EPA eventually discovered the contamination and evacuated the town in 1982. After a decade of bureaucratic delays and lawsuits, the federal government paid $33 million to buy out the town and relocate its residents.
The town was eventually bulldozed and incinerated, and a massive cleanup project was undertaken, costing nearly $200 million. The site was reopened as a state park in 1999, with a small plaque commemorating the town that once stood there. The incident raised questions about corporate responsibility, government regulation, and individual accountability, with many still debating who was to blame for the destruction of Times Beach.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Route 66 State Park is located off exit 265 on Interstate 44 in eastern Missouri.
2. The park's 419 acres provide trails for hiking, cycling, and fishing on the Meramec River.
3. The park's visitor center is a former roadhouse filled with vintage Route 66 memorabilia.
4. Times Beach was a town founded in 1925 by the St. Louis Star-Times newspaper.
5. The town was intended to be a resort town for high society, but it struggled financially after the Great Depression.
6. By 1951, the St. Louis Star-Times went out of print, and the town's population declined.
7. By 1970, the town had 1,200 residents and was mostly low-income housing.
8. The town's roads were unpaved, and residents hired Russell Bliss to spray oil on the roads to control dust.
9. Bliss ran a waste oil company and occasionally sprayed oil on unpaved streets as a side gig.
10. In 1972, Bliss became the official contractor for the town's road spraying.
11. Bliss mixed his oil with waste from a chemical facility owned by Hoffman-Taff, which contained dioxin.
12. Dioxin is a highly toxic carcinogen, and the waste was originally intended for disposal at an atomic waste site.
13. The waste was subcontracted to Bliss, who mixed it with his oil and sprayed it on the town's roads.
14. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) investigated the town after residents reported illnesses and animal deaths.
15. The CDC found high levels of dioxin in the town's soil and recommended its removal and burial.
16. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was involved in the investigation and cleanup efforts.
17. In 1979, a former NEPACCO employee revealed that toxic waste had been buried on a farm near Verona.
18. The EPA found 90 barrels of waste on the farm, 11 of which tested positive for high levels of dioxin.
19. The EPA announced that Times Beach would be abandoned due to the high levels of dioxin contamination.
20. The government set up barricades to block people from re-entering the town.
21. In 1982, the EPA revisited the town and found that the levels of dioxin had not decreased since the initial tests.
22. The EPA recommended that the town be bulldozed and placed into a massive landfill.
23. In 1983, the federal government announced that it would pay $33 million to buy every residential property and business in the town.
24. By 1985, the residents of the town had fully relocated, and Missouri Governor John Ashcroft issued an executive order to dis-incorporate the town.
25. The town was gated off and patrolled around the clock by government officials for 10 years.
26. In 1995, the EPA installed an incinerator on the site, and the government began destroying the dioxin-laden materials.
27. The cleanup project was completed in 1997 and cost close to $200 million.
28. In 1999, the area was reopened to the public as a state park.
Note: I excluded opinions and focused on extracting verifiable facts from the text.