Anderson, with the help of U.S. Steel, is removing all the steel infrastructure so they can test and clean the soil underneath, said Dennis Astill, project manager and attorney for Anderson Geneva Development Inc. The company hopes to have some commercial property open within a year, Astill said.

"It would be surprising to the public to know . . . that of the 1,700 acres there, there's probably less than a tenth of that that has what you'd probably characterize as hazardous waste on it," Astill said.

Chemicals include benzene and toluene, coal tar, lead and other solid and liquid chemicals, Astill said.

Costs are still just an estimate at this point, Astill said.

"It's in the tens of millions, but how many tens I don't know," he said. The company is preparing a plan that will be reviewed by the DEQ within the next month or so.

"(The land) will be cleaned to a standard that will meet a residential use . . . so a homeowner would not have to be concerned," Astill said.

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E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com