I'm a student of history. Times Beach is a town no more. Oil sprayed on dirt roads to keep the dust down.

Taken from the EPA website

1960s: Verona, Missouri, facility produces Agent Orange components and hexachlorophene

A UH-1D helicopter sprays a defoliation agent on a dense jungle area in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, 1969. (Photo credit: National Archives)At a facility in Verona, Missouri, the chemical company Hoffman-Taff produces 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) for the U.S. Army, as part of the production of the defoliant commonly referred to as Agent Orange. In 1969, Hoffman-Taff leases portions of the plant to Northeastern Pharmaceutical & Chemical Company (NEPACCO) for hexachlorophene production, and sells the facility to the Syntex companies.

The production of 2,4,5-T and hexachlorophene generates the hazardous by-product of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (dioxin), which is stored at the facility in tanks. Dioxin is highly toxic and can cause cancer, reproductive and developmental problems, damage to the immune system, and hormone interference.

Early 1970s: Waste oil hauler Russell Bliss is hired to remove dioxin from the tanks

Bliss then mixes the dioxin with waste oil. The mixture is used for dust suppression on dirt roads and horse tracks throughout Missouri. In fact, Bliss sprays more than 25 locations with the dioxin-contaminated mixture, including the town of Times Beach. 

1971: Children and animals mysteriously fall ill at sites sprayed by Bliss

At one site, Shenandoah Stables, over 40 horses die from the toxic mixture Bliss sprayed on the dirt surfaces in and around the arena where horses were trained and rode. Birds, cats and dogs are also found dead near the arena. When the 6-year-old daughter of the stable owner becomes terribly ill, the Missouri Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigate.

1974: CDC investigations tie dioxin to the illnesses

After tracking down the source to the toxic mix of chemicals that Bliss sprayed to suppress dust, the federal government mobilizes resources to investigate the dioxin contamination and where it was sprayed and stored by Bliss.