page_title: Times Beach, Missouri
section_title: Consequences of the contamination in Times Beach
hierarchical_section_title: Times Beach, Missouri / Dioxin contamination / Consequences of the contamination in Times Beach
caption_attribution_description: English: The former roadhouse in Times Beach, Missouri, now the visitor center for the Route 66 State Park.
context_page_description: Times Beach is a ghost town in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, 17 miles southwest of St. Louis and 2 miles east of Eureka. Once home to more than two thousand people, the town was completely evacuated early in 1983 due to TCDD—also known as dioxin—contamination. It was the largest civilian exposure to this compound in the history of the US.
  In 1985, the State of Missouri officially dis-incorporated the city of Times Beach. The site of Times Beach now houses a 419-acre state park commemorating U.S. Route 66—the famous highway that stretched from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California, and passed by the community—as well as the history of the Times Beach area. The park opened in 1999. In 2001, the EPA removed Times Beach from its Superfund list.
  The 1987 film Made in U.S.A., directed by Ken Friedman and starring Adrian Pasdar, Chris Penn and Lori Singer, refers to Times Beach.
context_section_description: Although the decision for relocation in 1982 was made in the best interests and safety of the Times Beach residents, the evacuation was not an easy transition.  Eight hundred families had to leave their lives completely behind.  Initially, parents worried about what to do and where to go for financial assistance.  As they began to settle into their new lives, their logistical and financial worries were soon replaced by the fear that their children would be afflicted by sudden chronic illnesses.  The psychological trauma caused by relocation was immeasurable.
  Several months after the evacuation, the American Medical Association (AMA) publicly criticized the news media for spreading unscientific information about dioxin and the health hazards associated with it.  The AMA stated that there was no evidence of adverse consequences from low-level dioxin exposure. Subsequent studies of potentially exposed people from Times Beach and some other contaminated locations in Missouri have revealed no adverse health outcomes that can be directly linked to dioxin. In a study conducted by the CDC and the Missouri Division of Health, no cases of chloracne, a common symptom of acute dioxin poisoning, were observed in Times Beach residents.  
  By May 1991, Dr Vernon Houk, the director of the CDC’s Center for Environmental Health, had come to the same conclusion  as the AMA.  Although he had made the official recommendation to permanently relocate Times Beach residents in 1982, by 1991, he no longer believed that evacuation had been necessary.
  The land that was once Times Beach is now Route 66 State Park. One building from the town still exists: the park's visitor center was once a roadhouse from Times Beach's glory days, and was the EPA's headquarters for the area. There is a large grass mound beneath which is the debris of the demolished buildings of the former town. The EPA revisited and tested the soil at the Route 66 State Park in June 2012. On November 19, 2012 it was reported that "Soil samples from Route 66 State Park show no significant health risks for park visitors or workers."
caption: The former roadhouse, now the Route 66 State Park Visitor Center in January 2017
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