Incinerator Burns Last of Times Beach

An incinerator has burned the last of the contaminated soil from Times Beach, Mo., the town wiped off the map to contain dioxin contamination. In the early 1970s, oil later found to be contaminated with dioxin was spread on Times Beach’s gravel roads and ballpark. A decade later, the problem was discovered. The town was then evacuated and leveled, and the debris burned or buried. In 1985, Times Beach aldermen voted to disincorporate the town, and it ceased to exist. The incinerator burned more than 265,000 tons of soil and debris from Times Beach and 26 other dioxin sites at a cost of $200 million. The 500-acre town site will become a state park.