After more than 20 years of holding their noses, residents of a tiny Canadian town are finally getting relief from what locals describe as one of the worst smells imaginable.

Crews have begun clearing away more than 100 abandoned tanks filled with thousands of gallons of rotting fish waste that have blanketed St. Mary's, Newfoundland and Labrador, with a nauseating stench for decades.

Volunteer Mayor Steve Ryan didn't mince words when describing the odor.

"The worst rotted fish you ever smelled in your lifetime, times 100," he said.

The smell has haunted the town of about 300 people since the Atlantic Seafood Sauce Company shut down more than two decades ago, leaving behind about 110 tanks, each containing roughly 3,000 gallons of fermented fish liquid.

As the abandoned factory fell apart, with its roof collapsing, windows breaking and storm damage exposing the site, bacteria continued breaking down the waste, sending the overpowering smell drifting across the community whenever the wind changed.

Now, after years of lobbying for help, a $1.7 million cleanup is finally underway.

Ryan said the town spent years fighting to secure provincial funding and was repeatedly turned away while seeking federal assistance.

"Every door we came to was just closed in our face," Ryan said. "They forgot about us."

The town was even forced to take out a loan to help get the project moving, though officials say it will eventually be reimbursed.

Over the next several months, crews will drain the tanks, mix the waste with peat moss to absorb the liquid and transport it to a specially engineered disposal site lined to safely contain the material.

Cleanup contractor Glenn Sharp described it as unlike anything his company normally handles.

"This is a special waste," Sharp said. "This does not fall under any of the standard classifications."

For Ryan, the cleanup marks the end of a battle the town never expected to fight for so long.

"We're such a small town and we were left on our own," he said. "For so many years nobody had our backs."

Despite the years of frustration, Ryan said the community never gave up.

"We kept fighting and fighting because we knew we were right in what we were fighting for," he said.