During the late 1970s, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) from a chemical plant contaminated sediments and fishes for more than 250 km of Bayou Mete, a warmwater lowland stream in east-central Arkansas. During the mid-1980s, TCDD concentrations ranged as high as 2,500 ppt (parts per trillion, ng/kg) in sediments and 1,900 ppt in fishes, resulting in a limited ban on sportfishing and total ban on commercial fishing in that stream. In 1991, a study was initiated to determine the persistence of TCDD in Bayou Meto fishes and sediments and the extent of its dispersal from the point source. Concentrations of TCDD in food fish fillets exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's foodstuff levels (25 ppt) for more than 20 km below the point source and young bluegillsLepomis macrochirusand sediments exceeded detectable limits (1 ppt) throughout the river. Highest TCDD concentrations in fish (296 ppt) and sediment (276 ppt) were found immediately below the source, but those levels were lower than concentrations found there in 1982 and 1987. Lipid-corrected values demonstrated no clear biomagnification of TCDD for predatory or older fishes. The apparent decline of TCDD, both over time and distance, has led to reopening the lower reaches of Bayou Meto to commercial fishing.