Cleaning up contaminants in the city of St. Maries is expected to cost big bucks and for many living in the area.

St. Maries, in conjunction with two companies, have agreed to clean up contaminants left behind from a former treatment plant on the St. Joe River.

For decades, a utility pole treatment plan that sat along the St. Joe River was dumping toxins into nearby water and this shoreline. It is now 71 years later and the cost to clean up the area has reached $12 million.

"It's something that happened awhile back and it?s been a long time coming to get it cleaned up,? said former truck driver Floyd Turner who lives in St. Maries.

The St Joe River sits quiet now, but just six years ago utility poles were being peeled, sorted and stored along the water.

?It was called B.J. Carney Pole Mill and we'd haul the poles out of the woods, cedar poles, and then they'd de-bark them here and cut them to length," said Turner.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the trouble started back in 1938 when Creosote, used to treat poles, began seeping into the water and soil.

"It was kind of before my time when they were treating the poles," Turner said.

The chemical used to protect the wooden poles was actually bad for the environment. The EPA says more than 70,000 cubic yards of Creosote-contaminated soil and river sediment needs cleaning up.

The massive undertaking will cover an area 60 feet deep and 700 feet downstream from the former plant site.

"You never really notice the Creosote in the river until it gets really hot and then it rains and then you'll see like a rainbow film," Turner said.

The Department of Justice says the two companies, Carney Products Company Ltd. and B.J. Carney & Company Lp, are picking up the $12 million clean up tab.

"You gotta be honest about what's going on in the water and make sure everything is cleaned up, but at the same time, do it in a way that it doesn't hurt the town," St. Maries resident Cheryl Hudson said.

Even though the contamination is on city land, St. Maries' city attorney confirms that for now, no tax dollars will be used.

For those who've called this town home for 40 years, like Turner, this clean up is long overdue.

"It'll be nice to get it done and over with," Turner said.