MARYSTOWN, N.L. — Placentia West-Bellevue Liberal MHA Mark Browne met with members of Marystown council on Monday, June 25 to announce the province will do an environmental review of the Marystown Shipyard.
In a phone call to the Southern Gazette after the meeting was held, Browne said the purpose of the review is to identify any environmental labilities that may exist at the site.
He noted that the province had contacted officials with Peter Kiewit, owner of the facility, to inform them of the decision to conduct a review.
“We have a great working relationship with Kiewit,” said Browne. “(I) look forward to working with them in the future.”
Marystown Mayor Sam Synard said although the review will not come without a cost, it will provide valuable information for prospective buyers.
“We need to know what the environmental issues are with the yard, if any,” said Synard.
The mayor confirmed that another buyer is showing interest in the shipyard, and hopes this process is a step towards the successful sale of the facility.
“Buying a shipyard is not like buying a house, you can go in and inspect a house in one day and know what you are getting, when you buy an industrial footprint, it is a lot more complicated,” he said.
While Synard cannot identify who the potential buyer is, he confirmed it is not someone who showed interest in the past.
“This are new people,” he said. “The new potential buyer, to the best of my knowledge, has never shown any interest in buying the shipyard prior, and right now I think Kiewit is only negotiating with this one buyer (and) nobody else.”
Synard said he is confident a deal for the sale of the yard will be reached before the end of the summer.
“That’s what I’m hoping,” he told The Southern Gazette. “I really think it is has to change hands before the end of the summer, yeah, if not it may sit there for a long time.”
