Article ID: CBB884722986

The Rise and Fall of the Tacoma Arsenic Industry (2013)

unapi

Lloyd B. Tepper (Author)
Jeffery H. Tepper (Author)


IA. The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology
Volume: 39
Issue: 1-2
Pages: 65-78


Publication Date: 2013
Edition Details: Theme Issue: Industrial Archaeology of Industrial Waste
Language: English

For some seventy-five years, Tacoma, Washington, was the center of the arsenic industry in the United States. Arsenic, initially a waste product of copper smelting, became an important by-product of the ASARCO Tacoma smelter. Local manufacturers produced arsenic-based insecticides and herbicides and arsenic-treated lumber. The smelter ceased operations in 1985 on economic grounds. Organic alternatives and environmental considerations led to the termination of the production of arsenical insecticides and herbicides. Uses of treated lumber became highly restricted. Terrestrial contamination with arsenic came to be regarded as a serious environmental problem calling for widespread remedial measures. The former ASARCO site is now under development as a mixed-use residential and commercial property.

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Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB884722986/

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Authors & Contributors
Paul J. White
Les Joslin
Ross F. Allen
James C. Dawson
Richard W. Ward
Mitzi Rossillon
Concepts
Pesticides; insecticides
Industrial archaeology
Smelting
Public health
Environmental history
Slag
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
21st century
Progressive Era (1890s-1920s)
20th century, early
18th century
Places
United States
Oregon (U.S.)
Montana (U.S.)
Tooele, Utah
Francoist Spain
North Santiam Canyon
Institutions
U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record
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