The Nation - News from June 5, 1989

Dioxin contamination in Times Beach, Mo., has remained relatively stable, a researcher reported. Armon Yanders, director of a study funded by Amoco Oil Co., said in the 17 years since dioxin-laced oil was sprayed to control dust the highly toxic chemical has not moved into the groundwater. The federal Environmental Protection Agency closed the town, 20 miles southwest of St. Louis, after the dioxin was sprayed in 1972. Dioxin is a byproduct of the manufacture of pesticides and other chlorine compounds and of burning wood. It causes cancer in laboratory animals and has been associated with liver disorders. The EPA plans to build a temporary incinerator at Times Beach to burn the dioxin-contaminated soil from that site and from dozens of other sites.