Vertac Chemical Waste Site, Arkansas

In 1987, when the Vertac Chemical company went bankrupt, they left a heavily contaminated facility, including nearly 29,000 barrels of toxic waste. Located on the site of the WWII-era Arkansas Ordnance Plant, the company worked with numerous highly toxic chemicals associated with the manufacture of herbicides. In 1983, the EPA declared the facility a Superfund site. By 1994, over 23,000 barrels had been destroyed onsite, and the remainder transported to Coffeyville, Kansas where another incinerator was located. By 1996, all of the remaining waste had been destroyed. The site is now officially cleaned up, but it remains one of the more notorious superfund sites in the nation. The site of the Arkansas Ordnance Plant has been largely redeveloped, and is home to shopping centers and fast food, and the Jacksonville Museum of Military History. The Vertac mound is on the other side of the highway.