Valley of the Drums
The A. L. Taylor site, also known as "Valley of the Drums," was an
uncontrolled industrial waste dump located in a small valley in northern
Bullitt County just south of the Jefferson County line off Kentucky
state highway 1020 outside the community of Brooks, Kentucky.
The site became a collection point for toxic wastes starting sometime in the 1960s. During the 1960s 70s and 80s, 100,000 drums of toxic waste were dumped on the 23 acre site. The paints and coatings industries of the Louisville area were the primary waste generators using the A. L. Taylor site. Some of the drums were emptied into open pits, cleaned and recycled. Other drums were buried on site, and during the later years of operation many drums were stored on the surface.
The site caught the attention of state officials when some of the drums caught fire and burned for more than a week in 1966. However, at that time there were no laws to address the storage or containment of toxic wastes, and the site continued to be unregulated for another decade. In 1979 conditions at the site became so bad that the Environmental Protection Agency initiated an emergency clean-up of the worst of the leaking drums. Workers on the ground quickly realized that the scope of the problem was far beyond their abilities at the time.
The site was one of the primary motivations for the passage of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or Superfund Act of 1980. Cleanup began at the site in 1983 and officially ended in 1990.
The site became a collection point for toxic wastes starting sometime in the 1960s. During the 1960s 70s and 80s, 100,000 drums of toxic waste were dumped on the 23 acre site. The paints and coatings industries of the Louisville area were the primary waste generators using the A. L. Taylor site. Some of the drums were emptied into open pits, cleaned and recycled. Other drums were buried on site, and during the later years of operation many drums were stored on the surface.
The site caught the attention of state officials when some of the drums caught fire and burned for more than a week in 1966. However, at that time there were no laws to address the storage or containment of toxic wastes, and the site continued to be unregulated for another decade. In 1979 conditions at the site became so bad that the Environmental Protection Agency initiated an emergency clean-up of the worst of the leaking drums. Workers on the ground quickly realized that the scope of the problem was far beyond their abilities at the time.
The site was one of the primary motivations for the passage of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or Superfund Act of 1980. Cleanup began at the site in 1983 and officially ended in 1990.
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