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MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: A developer based in Texas is doing something you don’t normally see: Agreeing to pay to clean up a Superfund site mess it didn’t make. Alex Cohen has more.

ALEX COHEN: The 36-acre Superfund site is just outside Houston, making it a prime area for residential development. But, the soil is contaminated with lead and needs to be replaced.

The company responsible for the damage went bankrupt in the ’90s, leaving the Environmental Protection Agency to foot the bill.

EPA’s Barbara Nann says the Superfund cleanup budget is tight, and she thinks the deal is a preview of how more Superfund sites will be handled in the future.

BARBARA NANN: It also meets our goals of getting sites redeveloped too because that’s a really important goal for EPA as well. Not only do we want to see sites cleaned up, but that they’re actually put into use by the communities.

Nann says if all goes well, clean up on the site should begin within the next six months.

I’m Alex Cohen for marketplace.