Council and residents in St. Mary’s are pleading with government to do something about a fish sauce plant in the town.

Mayor Steve Ryan says he’s lost all respect for the government and those who have covered up issues at the abandoned plant.

The story has been unfolding for years, but it was recently uncovered in an access to information request that the highly toxic H2S gas, or hydrogen sulfide, was one of the toxins discovered at the facility back in 2016.

Since then, over a million litres of product has been dumped in the water, something that has been deadly for marine life in St. Mary’s Bay.

Ryan says while the fish are important, the residents and their health are his priority.

He says his last visit to the facility was in September of 2022 when he counted 110 tanks with 12 inches of waste on the floor.

Residents at an information session today asked multiple times where their officials are to help them clean up the mess.

The mayor says the town should not be responsible for it, since it was a federal project and the ocean is federal territory.

The local council and residents are calling on Environmental Minister Bernard Davis and Premier Andrew Furey to work with Ottawa to fix the issue.

H2S is the gas known for its rotten-egg smell in lower concentrations. It’s is highly flammable and toxic and can cause serious health problems for those exposed to it.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, prolonged exposure to levels as low as 2 to 5 parts per million can cause nausea, watery eyes, headaches, asthma-like breathing problems and loss of sleep.

The higher the concentration, the worse the effects, with levels of 500 to 700 parts per million resulting in staggering, collapse, damage to the eyes and death within 30 to 60 minutes.

The explosive range of hydrogen sulfide in the air is 4.5 to 45.5 per cent.