It was a day of celebration in a small Cape Breton community that for four years lived in the shadow of the MV Miner, as the last of the wreck is finally gone.
Residents gathered Saturday to look back at the long fight to get it removed.
"We can sit back and say, 'We did it.' Every time we heard no, every time a door was closed in our faces, we didn't give up," said Amanda McDougall, president of the Main-a-Dieu Community Development Association.
The Miner ran aground on Scatarie Island in September 2011 while under federal tow to a scrapyard in Turkey.
Removing it meant overcoming formidable odds. Ottawa refused to pay for the operation.
There was also a failed salvage effort led by Nova Scotia's previous NDP government.
The McNeil Liberals finally got the job done, but it cost $14 million.
"This vessel was a concern for environmental, for safety, for economics,” said Nova Scotia Transportation Minister Geoff MacLellan. “It just didn't belong on the shores of Scatarie."
For the community of about 400, cleaning up part of their fishing grounds and the protected island was well worth it.
"If you could see the island now, I'm just closing my eyes and picturing that part of Scatarie back to health, and power and beauty as it was before. We did it," said community advocate Sean Howard.
The group is still trying to get the federal government to repay its share of the salvage costs.
"We're not going to stop until we get a cost-sharing agreement with the federal government," said Howard.
With a new government in place, there is optimism help could be on its way in terms of money and new shipping laws.
“It doesn't matter what coastline you're on in this country, we can't have vessels that are unprotected, uninsured, lacking in safety in regards of regulation, landing on coastlines, and being left to rot," said MacLellan.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald.
