The long and tedious process of cleaning up Gainesville's Superfund site has taken a relatively large stride forward.

The federal environmental protection agency filed what is known as a "Consent Decree" with a federal court.

It is the final contract between the EPA and Beazer East; the company responsible for cleaning up the Cabot- Koppers Superfund site.

The specifics of the consent decree are not yet known, but should be revealed sometime in the next week.

There will be a 30 day public comment period, followed by a judge's decision whether to approve the decree.  Cleanup work would formally begin shortly thereafter.

The property was first declared a Superfund site in 1983.