Carbondale environmentalists opposed to a controversial toxic waste incinerator at the Crab Orchard Wildlife Refuge will gather in Times Beach, Missouri tomorrow, for a joint protest with people from other communities that are near incinerator sites.

Times Beach was an environmental catastrophe area in the late seventies and early eighties, when dioxin, a by-product of the incineration process, contaminated a dust suppressant spread on the roads near the town. Dioxin is known to cause cancer and is suspected to be linked with several other health problems.

Times Beach has since been evacuated. The buildings that used to be Times Beach are set to be incinerated along with soil scraped up in the area. Rose Rowell, a representative for the Southern Coalition on Protecting the Environment, said the protest will draw people from all over the country to oppose the burning of toxic waste.

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It’s kind of a sharing thing.

see PROTEST, page 5