[2] The Maxey Flats disposal site is located on a plateau in northeastern Kentucky, approximately 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Morehead.

However, in 1962, Nuclear Engineering Company, Inc. (NECO) bought 252 acres (1.02 km2) of land on Maxey Flats and submitted an application for a license to bury radioactive waste there.

Under the direction of President and Chief Executive Officer James N. Neel, Nuclear Engineering Company (referred to in operational documentation as 'NECO'), now known as 'American Ecology' (Nasdaq: ECOL), installed an evaporator and disposed of the accumulated radioactive water as steam from 1973 to April 1986, nearly 9 years after the site had stopped accepting waste materials.

In addition to the trenches for low-level radioactive waste, there were "Hot Wells" that were used to store special nuclear material (plutonium and enriched uranium).

[full citation needed] On September 27, 1982, the Kentucky New Era reported that the Maxey Flats disposal site was being closed due to "radioactive leakage".

State Natural Resources Coordinator Jackie Swigart confirmed that radioactive material had escaped burial trenches and been detected beyond the borders of the 250 acre site.

Extensive remediation was then undertaken, including the installation of a 45 mil scrim-reinforced geomembrane liner covering the site of the trenches to prevent the infiltration of water.

[full citation needed] In response to concerns that the radioactive isotopes at the site might be used against American interests, DHS had the sign at the entrance to the facility removed so it would be harder to find.