Plan Reached to Clean Up Dioxin-Laced Ghost Town : Environment: Company will burn soil from Times Beach and 27 other Missouri sites. The settlement is subject to court approval.

ST. LOUIS —  Federal and state environmental officials Friday announced an agreement intended to pave the way for cleanup of the dioxin-contaminated ghost town of Times Beach, Mo., after seven years of study and negotiations.

Morris Kay, regional director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, announced at a news conference that a cleanup agreement had been reached with Syntex Agribusiness Inc., a chemical and animal health company.

The settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and then approval by U.S. District Judge John F. Nangle. But both Kay and Syntex spokesman Ray Forrester said preliminary work could begin within days of the judge’s decision.

Under the settlement, Syntex will build and later demolish an incinerator to burn the tons of dioxin-tainted soil from Times Beach and 27 other sites in eastern Missouri contaminated in the 1970s when waste oil containing dioxin was sprayed on roads to keep dust down.

Syntex, based in Palo Alto, Calif., did not produce the dioxin. But the government considers Syntex a responsible party because the dioxin was produced by a tenant in a Verona plant owned by a company Syntex later acquired.

The company declined to say how much it expects to spend on the cleanup, but Kay said Syntex would do at least half of the work the EPA has estimated would cost $200 million.

Under the agreement, Syntex must pay the government $10 million over five years to cover part of the cost of prosecuting the case. In return, all federal and state lawsuits against the company will be dismissed.

Times Beach, about 20 miles southwest of St. Louis, has been deserted since 1983, when the federal government bought up all 801 homes and businesses and moved the people out.

Dioxin, a byproduct in the manufacture of chemicals such as disinfectant, is suspected of causing disorders of the nervous system, liver, kidneys and bladder.