GLOUCESTER CITY, N.J. -- It was one of the worst radioactive contaminations in the country.

Now, after almost a decade-long cleanup, there is some relief, but also anger, NBC 10 reported on Wednesday. The radioactive cleanup occurred in Gloucester City, just over the Walt Whitman Bridge from Philadelphia.

Officials could finally reopen Klemm Avenue after the latest cleanup of radioactive wasted dumped in Gloucester City in the early 1900s.

"The Welsbach Co. dumped a lot more waste than we really ever envisioned here," said Rick Robinson, the EPA project manager . "It was a major dump instead of being a minor dump."

The Welsbach Company made gas lantern parts and disposed of tons of cancer-causing thorium -- and it's now one of the EPA's biggest superfund cleanups in the country. The contamination was so bad, 12 homes had to be demolished, seven families relocated and five modular homes rebuilt.

For the families that did return, it has been years of uncertainty, NBC 10 reported.

"I love being back in my neighborhood," said Eileen Smith, whose home was replaced with a modular house. "Do I like my house anymore? No!"

Many said the pre-fabricated structures that replaced their original brick homes were plagued with roof leaks and foundation cracks.

"We're supposed to feel grateful that they came out here and did this for us," said Dawn Branton, whose home was also replaced with a modular house. "We're supposed to feel more grateful that they rebuilt our houses. Nobody realizes what we went through to get these houses."

As the EPA moves on to other sites, officials said they leave behind a rebuilt Gloucester City Swim Club and neighborhoods. EPA officials said most of the radiation that remained to be cleaned up was at depth, and there was cover on it, so there is no immediate risk to anybody.

"I guess I have to believe them," said resident Janice Kissick. "I have no recourse but to believe what they're telling me, that it's safe."

Despite the fact that the EPA officials said they spent more than $100 million on a cleanup that's lasted nearly a decade, they said they are still only one-third of the way finished, and that's provided they don't run into any more surprises.