Anthropogenic activities such as industrial contamination can have substantive impacts on biological communities. These impacts have been quantified for diverse assemblages of taxa, yet, to date there have been few studies that have investigated the effects of anthropogenic contaminants on decomposer communities in terrestrial ecosystems. In this research, I studied the effects of trace metals from coal combustion waste and radiocesium from nuclear effluents on communities of scavenger and predatory beetles associated with carrion decomposition, as well as the bioaccumulation of contaminants within these taxa at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, U.S. Our results reveal variability in activity abundance (the number of individuals collected), species diversity, and species composition between contaminated and uncontaminated sites. Specifically, there was higher beetle activity abundance and diversity at contaminated locations as reflected in scavenger but not predatory beetles. Contaminated and uncontaminated sites had unique species compositions, however varying habitat conditions likely influenced these patterns. Specifically, habitat edges demonstrated unique species compositions compared to other trap locations. We observed higher levels of Arsenic (As), Selenium (Se), and Thallium (Tl) in scavenger beetles at a site contaminated with coal combustion waste, but higher levels of Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), and Nickel (Ni) at the uncontaminated site. Our study suggests that carrion-associated beetles are sentinel species for elucidating habitat quality and presence of anthropogenic contaminants.