The U.S. Army is preparing to resume work removing pollutants on a 15-square-mile tract that’s considered the largest potentially developable chunk of land in the Kansas City metropolitan area, but the project is expected to take far longer than officials had envisioned.

Environmental cleanup at the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant in Johnson County was halted five years ago when federal funds dried up.

The Kansas City Star reports the Army’s projected timeline for a job that started in the 1990s calls for it to be ready for the first house, shop or office possibly by 2028.

Kansas and Johnson County officials see the property as key to growth along the Kansas 10 corridor linking Johnson County with Lawrence.

The cleanup was supposed to have been finished three years ago.