WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal and district officials say Washington Gas has agreed to pay more than $700,000 and clean an area along the Anacostia River polluted by decades of gas production.

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The Department of the Interior announced Monday that Washington Gas will remove up to three feet of contaminated soil from a stretch of the river's edge near the former plant site. And the company will pay to investigate whether groundwater in the area is continuing to contaminate the river.

The Department of the Interior says gas was produced at the former plant from the 1880s to the 1980s, primarily from coal and oil. Wastes included hazardous substances such as benzene, arsenic, tar and heavy metals.

The plant was demolished in 1986 and above-ground oil storage tanks were removed in 1997.