(AP) — Although a federal judge has approved a consent decree involving the cleanup at the former Schilling Air Force Base in Salina, cleanup at the site is still years away.

The judge approved the joint settlement agreement between Salina authorities and the federal government on Wednesday.

The approval is another step in an 18-year conflict over the cost of cleaning up contaminated groundwater and soil at a former Air Force base.

The decree essentially starts the process of making a plan for the environmental cleanup of a plume of pollution that is moving toward the city’s water wells.

The federal government will pay more than $8.4 million of the nearly $9.4 million cost to map the operation. The city of Salina will pay the remaining $936,300.