Decades in the making, work begins to remove rotten fish sauce from St. Mary's plant
The town of St. Mary's, Newfoundland and Labrador, has begun a $2 million cleanup project to remove nearly 900,000 litres of fermented fish sauce from an abandoned plant. The project aims to resolve a decades-long environmental and odor issue that has plagued the community.
Why it matters
This cleanup addresses a long-standing public health and environmental nuisance, demonstrating the challenges of industrial site remediation and government accountability.
"I think we're to a point where we're there. We're actually really close to the finish line." St. Mary's Mayor Steve Ryan told reporters on Tuesday, who hopes it can now be cleaned up once and for all.
"To be known as the 'sauce plant mayor' … it's time for that to be over."
The Atlantic Seafood Sauce Company opened the plant in 1990, but it was abandoned in the early 2000s, after years of legal and regulatory battles.
The closure left 110 tanks behind, each holding 3,000 gallons of now long-fermented fish sauce. They littered the floors with sludge and left a stench that has permeated through the community for years.
Ryan said collaboration with all levels of government has been decades in the making over who was responsible for the cleanup, but the Newfoundland and Labrador government is finally picking up the tab.
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