LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — US Department of Energy contractors are scheduled to start removing contaminated soil in northern New Mexico left over from the Manhattan Project and early atomic Cold War research.

Work is expected to begin this week on the south-facing slopes of Los Alamos Canyon and is part of an agreement between federal and New Mexico officials, the Los Alamos Monitor reported.

Officials said the contaminated soils will be temporarily stored at Tech Area 21 at Los Alamos National Laboratory and eventually be shipped to a permanent area once tested.

The work will include five sites in a 1-acre area. About 125 cubic yards of soil is scheduled to be moved. One site contains arsenic and the other four contain plutonium, officials said.

‘‘We’re cleaning up to residential level, which is the most conservative level,’’ Los Alamos National Laboratory spokesman Peter Hyde said. ‘‘Now that we’re in there, we want to do these cleanups and be done. We don’t want to go back in there under more stringent requirements and clean up again.’’

Associated Press