From 1931 until 1971, the American Cyanamid Company operated a 50-acre site in Piney River to extract and refine titanium ore for the manufacture of titanium dioxide used in paint pigments. Although bringing prosperity to the region, the operation left a costly legacy of environmental destruction. When the company closed in 1971, acidic contaminants remaining from titanium production were left in wastewater lagoons, settling ponds, and waste disposal sites. Ferrous sulfate dissolved into sulphuric acid which, along with heavy metals such as aluminum, iron, copper, nickel, and zinc, then leached into groundwater and the Piney and Tye Rivers. This contamination contributed to six major fish kills in the rivers between 1977 and 1981 in which more than 200,000 fish died. The site was designated a Superfund Site by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1982. A spin-off company from American Cyanamid, Cytec Industries, agreed to begin cleanup measures in 1990, and more than a decade later the process was considered complete, although monitoring and testing continues.