KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The city is getting millions of dollars in federal money to clean up a hazardous former industrial site that has chemicals and other harmful waste left behind.

The bipartisan infrastructure law will help redevelop the Hardesty Federal Complex, near Independence and Hardesty avenues.

Kansas City’s grant is worth $5.75 million to clean up the former U.S. Army depot that stored military supplies and chemically treated soldiers’ clothing during World War II.

Cleaning up these so-called brownfields is a process that can take decades. But thanks to the bipartisan federal infrastructure law, the Environmental Protection Agency is helping speed the process along.

“This is one of the ugliest, most unhealthy pieces of geography in Kansas City,” said U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D – Kansas City. “And we have a chance now through what we are doing through the infrastructure bill to clean it up. This is a brownfield site. If we don’t do something now it’s just going to get worse. It’s going to damage the neighborhoods surrounding it. And the ground is just about as awful as you can find a piece of ground in our community.”

Cleaver says developers are interested in transforming this property into an asset for the Northeast neighborhood.

The grant will pay for abatement of contaminants like asbestos, lead-based paint, and other hazards.

It also includes nearly $4 million for Kansas City’s brownfields revolving loan fund.

The goal is to redevelop the buildings into housing, retail, and commercial space for the neighborhood around it.