PICHER, Okla. (AP) - More than three months after a tornado ravaged the Ottawa County town of Picher, contractors have arrived to begin clearing debris.

The EF-4 tornado hit the fading lead and zinc mining town on May 10, resulting in the deaths of seven people. Cleanup of the debris left by the storm is expected to take about a month.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will pay 80 percent of the cleanup bill, which is projected to be about $2.3 million. State and local governments will cover the remainder of the cost.

As the cleanup process continues, the debris will be separated and taken to a landfill in Kansas. An Environmental Protection Agency spokesman has said the debris should pose no health concerns.

The cleanup process has been complicated by Picher's location within a federal Superfund site and the ongoing process of a federal buyout of homes, including some of the 206 in the town destroyed by the twister.

The buyout left property in the hands of numerous different state and federal agencies.