Fish Sauce Plant: Due Diligence Underway for Decades-Old Stock Removal

The provincial government says it will work as quickly as it can to secure the St. Mary's fish sauce plant from falling into the ocean, but it isn't exactly sure when the decades-old sauce inside will be removed. In the Newfoundland outport on Monday, Environment Minister Chris Tibbs told reporters that his government is committed to finding a quick resolution. "I don't want to give an exact timeline right now, but it's going to be fairly quick and it's going to be as efficient as we can possibly do it," Tibbs said when asked about when the sauce could be removed. "We're going to get the building secure so it doesn't pose a threat to the community, and that's our main priority at the moment. And then we're going to deal with the rest as we go." A wall of the former fish sauce plant collapsed during high winds overnight Friday. It exposes 110 vats filled with rotting fish sauce to the elements, which already caused severe environmental concern. St. Mary's Mayor Steve Ryan said Monday that one person living on the property has been relocated for safety concerns, and that there's also concerns around a school's proximity to the plant. The town had been hopeful that the fish sauce would have been removed by now. Provincial governments have been working on the case for more than a decade, and put money in the most recent budget for its removal. "Right up to this week, we were getting ready to go to tender. And then this happened, and it changed the story totally," Ryan said. The delay also centres around where the sauce would go, Ryan said. It was to be transported to Sunnyside for disposal, about 160 kilometres north, but Ryan said other options are also being looked at. It's something that's been going on for years.- Jim Tobin The lack of a timeline for removal didn't phase Ryan, who says he can see a finish line he's waited decades to cross finally in the distance. "I don't care if [Tibbs] calls me 90 times," he said. "I finally have confidence that the finish line is after being moved closer to us." But one resident who spoke with Radio-Canada on Monday believes the sauce should have been removed long ago. "Just don't know why it's not done. You know, it's something that's been going on for years," Jim Tobin, who has a home about 50 metres from the plant, told Radio-Canada. "Now there's a change of the government. You know, seems like it's more of a political game here right now." In an interview with CBC News on Monday, federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said she has been in contact with Avalon MP Paul Connors on the matter and commended the provincial government for being on top of the issue. In a post on Facebook on Monday evening, the town council for St. Mary's told residents to expect to see heavy equipment around the site as early as Tuesday morning. They're hoping a crane will be involved as early as Thursday to help with the structural damage to the former plant building.