Sad Christmas Holiday Or How Toxic Wastes Can Ruin People Lives

In December 1982, adults and children across the US prepared for Christmas. Carols rang out on radio and television. People hurried through shopping malls buying toys and gifts. Families and friends strung lights around the rooftops and decorated stately Christmas trees. There was a holiday feeling in the air in cities and towns everywhere. Everywhere except Times Beach, Missouri.

Modern-day ghost town

In early December, citizens of this small community just southwest of St. Louis received some shocking news from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The news not only ruined their Christmas celebration, but for many, it ruined their lives, as well. Samples of soil revealed that the town had been drenched in dioxin, one of the most toxic (poisonous) chemicals known. Even one drop of dioxin in ten thousand gallons of liquid, or one part of dioxin per billion parts of soil, is considered highly hazardous.

The contamination had actually begun nine years earlier when local officials hired a man to spread oil on ten miles of unpaved streets in order to keep down the summer dust. They did not know at the time that the oilman's truck was also filled with sludge-soft, mud-like waste-from a chemical factory. The sludge contained the deadly dioxin. For at least two summers Russell Bliss oiled the streets of Times Beach. The contaminated oil was also spread throughout the state in about one hundred other locations. In the following months many people became ill, and small animals began dying unexpectedly, but no one knew why.

Over the next few years more people became ill and more animals died. Concerned citizens called for a federal investigation. Nine years later the EPA finally consented to test the soil. Results revealed the presence of dioxin.
On December 5, 1982, the Meramec River flooded the town and other nearby areas. Once again officials became alarmed. They feared that the loose soil which had washed into buildings and houses might be contaminated. They were especially concerned about the effect of the poison on household goods such as furniture and clothing.

EPA officials returned to Times Beach and checked the soil again. Tests showed that according to EPA standards, the flood-washed silt was free of contamination. Officials of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia, however, warned residents to stay away from the town.

By Christmas most of the two thousand residents had moved elsewhere temporarily. Then in February 1983, the EPA suddenly offered to buy the entire town. It was the first such offer in the history of this government agency. The purchase offer also included moving residents to a safer area up river - a move which ultimately cost the EPA thirty-three million dollars.

Within months Times Beach, Missouri, became a ghost town. Weeds and tall grass huddled around abandoned houses and empty shops. A few cars remained behind, along with a bird feeder made from an old plastic bottle and a hammock suspended between two trees. A friendly sign that read THANKS FOR COMING stood in front of the Easy Living Laundromat. And at Easy Living Mobile Manor, a few trailers stood deserted. Today there are no people left in Times Beach. Easy living became impossible living in this once cozy river town.

Medical researchers are unsure of the exact effects of dioxin exposure to human life over a ten-year period. Cancer and birth defects are among the worst fears. Former residents of Times Beach, however, know firsthand what the deadly poison has done to friends and family and pets.

Most remember the dead birds and the stillborn kittens and puppies. Some recall neighbors who died of cancer and childbirth. Marilyn Leistner, the town's last mayor, drove one reporter through town, indicating one tragedy after another that had resulted from exposure to the toxic waste. Nearly every house she pointed to held the memory of some friend or relative who had died. "Kidney cancer over there," she said, pointing to one house, "and this next family, the dog had a seizure disorder, and their little girl had terrible stomach and bladder problems.''

The mayor also had her own story to tell. One grown daughter almost died of cancer, another tried to commit suicide, and her exhusband had a problem with his liver. Former resident Michael Reid remembered that as a child, he and his friends had loved to ride their bikes behind the oil truck, skidding and sliding in the slippery goo. Penny Capstick recalled falling down in the stuff, and a little girl named Jeri Lynn used to sit by the side of the road and kick her feet in it.

Also hard to take was the way outsiders treated Times Beach residents once they heard about the eerie waste. "When you say Times Beach to people," says Leistner, "they look you up and down to see if you're green or glow in the dark." "If you lived in Times Beach," added Rose Eisen, "you're the scuzz of the earth."

Former residents miss their town and the good times they enjoyed. "Down in the Beach," said Joe Capstick, "everybody knew ~x-everybody's business. Up here," he continued, talking about their new life in Hilltop Village, "it's a totally different lifestyle. They barely say hi. Back in Times Beach you could go down at ten in the morning and find half the town fishing. It was fun."

Today, however, the former residents of Times Beach have only by their memories and photographs to remind them of the life they once had in this small midwestern town on Interstate 44 in Missouri.

This post is devoted to environment protection initiative. Taking a moment I would like to say ‘Thank You!’ to environmentally concerned waste removal companies for their continuous environment protection effort and for the help with collecting relevant material for our posts: 

Dumpster Rentals Seattle  , WA 
Dumpster Rentals Bellevue  , WA 
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Thank you all for protecting our planet by smart waste management and recycling.

• Published: 2013-02-12T15:40:35-08:00
• Author: Laura Schmidt, Dumpster Rentals Customer Supp