The Provincial Government announced this morning that it's tired of waiting for the former owners of the Englee fish plant to tear down the decrepit building.
It will move ahead with the demolition itself and "will pursue all possible legal avenues at its disposal," to recoup the costs.
The opposition NDP and Liberals have been pressuring the province over the past number of months to take just this sort of action.
The Town of Englee has long called the building, which started to collapse last winter, a safety hazard and an eyesore.
“We are pleased to see the placement of security onsite and to see government stepping in here in the absence of the responsible owners, to protect the people of Englee," said Mayor Rudy Porter in a press release.
Minister of Service NL Paul Davis said in the same release that the province decided to act before anyone was hurt on the site.
"In order to ensure the safety of the public and to maintain safe road access within the community, the Provincial Government is moving forward with the removal of the building as soon as possible.”
Environment Minister Terry French added that plant's owners will not escape their responsibilities.
"We will not sit by and allow the responsible parties to wash their hands of their obligations under the act," said French.
An environmental science and engineering consulting will be hired to assess the facility. The province and The Town of Englee have also hired security for the building and the surrounding roadway until the demolition.
There was no timeline given for how soon that might happen.
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Just a reminder Jolene it wasn't only the government that helped deplete our fish stocks! The fishermen themselves helped do this too, as well as the big companies who ran these fishplants years ago. I laugh when i hear Gus Etchegary on talking about the fishery when he was the biggest culprit when he was boss at FPI years ago. When it comes to the state in the fishery...we all have to look in the mirror.