NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Demolition of abandoned homes constructed on a toxic waste site began Wednesday in New Orleans, where Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan joined local officials touting plans to replace the homes with a solar energy farm.

Homes in the area known as Gordon Plaza were built in the 1970s and 1980s and marketed to Black people and low- and middle-income residents who weren’t told that the site was a one-time landfill. As awareness grew and environmentalists raised concerns, the area was named a federal Superfund cleanup site in 1994. Amid reports that the soil was contaminated with lead and carcinogens, including arsenic, residents began a decades-long effort to be relocated at government expense.

The city set aside $35 million in 2022 to pay for buyouts of residents’ homes.

Shortly before excavators began tearing into the first house, Regan commended Mayor LaToya Cantrell, U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, City Council members and activists who worked to bring about the buyouts.

Regan said the moment was “bittersweet” during a pre-demolition news conference livestreamed by WWL-TV.

“After all, this is the demolition of a neighborhood that, despite all of the issues that they face, it holds sentimental value to so many people,” Regan said. “This is where so many people bought their first home after years of work and countless sacrifices.”

City Council members Oliver Thomas and Eugene Green said they had family members who had moved into the subdivision with high hopes, only to learn of the environmental dangers.

“I’m pleased to be here today in recognition of the families that went through so much for so long," Green said.

New Orleans officials say they hope to use power from a solar farm planned for the site to supplement energy sources for the city's street drainage pump system.