After it had been collecting waste since the 1960s, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) analyzed the property and creek in 1979, finding high levels of heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, and some 140 other chemical substances.

Over time, many of the drums on site deteriorated, and the contents spilled onto the ground, where they were flushed into a nearby creek by storm water runoff.

In 1979, large quantities of contaminants were carried into the creek by the spring snow melts, which finally caused the EPA to respond.

The EPA analyzed the property and creek, finding high levels of heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls, and some 140 other chemical substances.

In December 2008, EPA inspectors found about four dozen rusted metal drums on land just outside the part of the dump that it capped and fenced in the 1980s, including a portion of Jefferson Memorial Forest.