What Happened at Times Beach, Missouri and Why Was It Abandoned? Times Beach, Missouri was evacuated and later demolished after its dirt roads were sprayed in the 1970s with waste oil contaminated by TCDD dioxin, which left widespread soil contamination across the town. After Environmental Protection Agency testing in December 1982 found dioxin along nearly all 23 miles of roads and a major flood threatened to spread it further, federal and state agencies bought out more than 2,000 residents, disincorporated the town in 1985, and completed a cleanup that turned the site into Route 66 State Park.

An entire town wiped off the map after roads were sprayed with waste oil. Uncover the toxic trail and how the cleanup reshaped Route 66. What part of this story surprises you most? #CERCLA #Dioxin #Route66StatePark #Superfund #TimesBeachMissouri