Abstract: Modified clay is a general purpose sorbent for the removal of trace organic pollutants from process effluent streams. An expandible smectite clay, such as montmorillonite, is placed in an aqueous suspension to expand the layers. The expanded clay is then treated with an excess of a solution of hydroxy-aluminum, in particular, a hydroxy-aluminum solution having an OH.sup.- /Al ratio of about 2.54 and a pH in the vicinity of 4.5. The weight of clay to volume of hydroxy-aluminum solution may vary from about 1:10 and 1:25. The treated clay is filtered, washed, dried, and powdered by techniques well known in the art, and then the entire treatment sequence is repeated. The modified, powdered clay removes organic pollutants from industrial effluent in the ppb-ppq range. In particular, the modified clay is useful in removing traces of PCBs and Dioxin.