(AP) — The $279.5 million Omaha lead contamination cleanup that began in 1999 is nearly complete, and the Environmental Protection Agency is ready to begin declaring some properties lead-free.

The EPA said Tuesday that it is proposing listing 1,154 of the 11,425 properties in Omaha’s superfund site as completely cleaned up.

EPA officials say less than 2 percent of the eastern Omaha children tested today have elevated lead levels. Before the cleanup, nearly 33 percent had elevated lead levels.

The soil in more than 10,000 Omaha yards has been replaced to clean up lean contamination that the EPA says came from a lead smelter that operated in Omaha for more than a century.

The EPA also stabilized the paint on more than 5,000 homes and set up educational programs on lead dangers.