The environment minister is offering assurances to those concerned about the potential environmental impact of burying dozens of vats of decades-old fish sauce at a landfill site in Sunnyside.

The vats are being removed from an abandoned fish plant in St. Mary’s and are being shipped to Sunnyside, where they will be buried in a lined pit.

Minister Chris Tibbs says the sauce is not toxic to the environment, but there are some concerns about the salt content in the largely solidified product, which is why the site is lined.

He says the product is going to be dumped into the lined pit and covered with another liner – “a big zip-lock bag basically” and then covered over and seeded.

Tibbs says the province set aside $2 million for the project – which he hopes will stay within budget.