After months of public outcry, resident dissatisfaction hardly waned as KeySpan started cleaning up an abandoned natural gas production plant in Bay Shore Monday.

Known carcinogens contaminate the land under the old plant, which KeySpan inherited from the Long Island Lighting Company in 1998. Heavy equipment now digs up soil in order to build an 80-foot-deep wall with a filtration system designed to stop contaminants from spreading further. Residents complain the toxins are already in the ground under hundreds of homes stretching to Main Street. They say KeySpan needs to act faster than its 10 to 12-year cleanup plan proposes. Homeowners and businesses joined forces to file a class-action lawsuit.

KeySpan says insurance will pick up most of the $70 million tab for the first, 2-year phase that began Monday. Company officials say the rest of the cost will likely be paid by ratepayers, who are unhappy to do so. Meanwhile, more than a dozen other plants KeySpan took over from the Long Island Lighting Company are contaminated.

Related Information: KeySpan sets cleanup date for Bay Shore gas plant mess LILCO turned blind eye to toxic tar leak in Bay Shore, lawsuit alleges