After decades of stench, Canada begins removing rotten fish sauce from abandoned factory

Workers began removing thousands of gallons of decomposing fish sauce from an abandoned factory in Newfoundland and Labrador dating back to the early 2000s. The process began on July 30.

St. Mary’s Mayor Steve Ryan reported that the former Atlantic Seafood Sauce Company plant has been emitting an unpleasant odor over the city for many decades.

“Take the worst smell of rotting fish you’ve ever smelled in your life and multiply it by 100,” Ryan described, illustrating the intensity of the problem.

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Plans for the cleanup have been significantly delayed for years due to a long debate between different levels of government over responsibility for removing the putrefying sauce. The government of Newfoundland and Labrador last year released a $2 million budget for this operation.

Crews finally began work to empty the factory on July 30. As stated by authorities, 110 tanks, each containing about 3,000 gallons of the spoiled sauce, are being removed.

The company Sharp Management, hired to manage the operation, is opening the tanks and mixing the contents with peat to solidify them before transport.

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The decomposing sauce will then be stored in a specialized waste cell designed to prevent any odor leakage into the atmosphere.

“It’s the only landfill in the province designated to receive organic waste. And although this is a very smelly item, it will be sealed at the end of the day,” said chief engineer Glenn Sharp.

The entire cleaning operation is expected to be completed by October.

“I believe we’re at a point where we’re almost at the finish line,” Ryan said. “Being known as the ‘mayor of the sauce factory’…it’s time for that to end.”