Expulsions by Saskia Sassen

Author:Saskia Sassen [Sassen, Saskia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2014-05-04T21:00:00+00:00

Times Beach, Missouri

The 480-acre Times Beach site is located 27 kilometers west of St. Louis. In 1970, the incorporated city was home to about 1,200 people, including the residents of several mobile home parks. City funds were insufficient to pave local roads, and dust from unpaved roads was considered a constant problem. In 1972 and 1973, the Russell Bliss waste-oil company was contracted to spray oil on city roads as a means of dust abatement. Former residents recall the roads immediately turning purple, terrible odors, and significant wildlife die-offs. The EPA eventually determined that the waste oil was severely contaminated with dioxins, a group of persistent environmental pollutants that, according to the World Health Organization, “are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also cause cancer.” The town was flooded by the nearby Meramec River while the EPA was in the process of conducting tests, and the toxic dioxins were distributed over the entire city. In 1982, the EPA recommended that all residents be permanently relocated. The Federal Emergency Management Agency took over the site and the relocation process, and by the end of 1986, Times Beach was a ghost town.18

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