MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it has finished its cleanup of arsenic contamination in a south Minneapolis neighborhood a full year ahead of schedule.

The EPA used $20 million in stimulus funding, plus other money, to clean up more than 600 properties. EPA removed more than 50,000 tons of contaminated soil, filled the yards with clean soil and replanted plants and grass. The cost totaled $28 million.

The Superfund site is around the former CMC Heartland Partners Lite Yard at Hiawatha Avenue and 28th Street, where a pesticide containing arsenic was produced. Contamination is believed to have blown into surrounding neighborhoods. Long-term exposure to arsenic has been linked to cancer.

EPA Regional Administrator Susan Hedman was joined by city and state officials at a commemoration for neighborhood residents Tuesday.