NATION : U.S., Missouri Agree to Clean Up Dioxin in Evacuated Ghost Town
Federal and state environmental officials announced an agreement today that will finally clear the way for the cleanup of dioxin-contaminated Times Beach, which has been an untouched ghost town since 1983.
Morris Kay, regional director of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, announced the settlement with Syntex Corp., a company that made the dioxin, at a news conference.
Times Beach, about 20 miles southwest of St. Louis, made headlines seven years ago when health officials discovered that dioxin in waste oil had been sprayed on the town’s streets.
The federal government bought out the town--801 homes and businesses--in 1983 and began trying to figure out how to clean up the contaminated streets.
Today’s agreement calls for Syntex to incinerate the dioxin-contaminated soil from Times Beach and 27 other sites in eastern Missouri. Syntex will design and build the incinerator at Times Beach, and then tear it down and remove it when the cleanup is complete.
The EPA has said the entire cleanup of Times Beach and other Missouri sites will cost about $118 million and could take up to 10 years.
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