EPA begins second phase of arsenic cleanup in Minneapolis

Clean topsoil
E.P.A. workers refill the yard with clean topsoil that arrives by truck.
MPR Photo/Ambar Espinoza

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing for a massive cleanup in a south Minneapolis neighborhood where soil is contaminated with arsenic.

Construction crews will be in the area this week, and the EPA will hold an open house on Wednesday to answer questions about the effort. Crews begin the cleanup after Labor Day.

The effort is the second phase of an EPA Superfund project that began with decontaminating nearly 200 of the most contaminated properties from 2004 to 2008.

The EPA says a pesticide containing arsenic was produced at and shipped from the CMC Heartland Lite Yard at 28th Street and Hiawatha Avenue until 1968.

The last phase of the cleanup is being paid for by $20 million in federal stimulus money.

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