The mayor of Saint John mayor is looking for answers after an explosion rocked part of the city late last week.
A “significant explosion” took place at the American Iron & Metal recycling facility around 7 a.m. on Friday, according to Port Saint John.
Mayor Don Darling told our newsroom he awoke to several texts and personal messages shortly after the incident.
“I believed it was likely AIM, but you never know,” Darling said. “You’re waking up, you’re racing towards the city to understand what’s going on. That’s not something I want to become routine in our city.”
It is not the first time there has been an explosion at the facility, located on the west side of the port.
Darling said the company has taken steps to minimize the number of incidents, but that is not enough.
“The goal has got to be no explosions,” he said. “We can’t have a norm be that we’re going to keep it to a few explosions a year.”
The city has no jurisdiction over the site, but the mayor recently facilitated meetings with officials from AIM and Port Saint John to address resident concerns.
Darling said he has contacted the company again and will be asking provincial and federal officials for review and action.
“I’ve been told that there were assurances made back when this project was being approved that the raw metals would be coming in dry, so in other words, no explosive materials,” he said. “Clearly that’s not the case.”
Darling said Port Saint John has committed to reviewing the incident and looking for ways to improve communications; the port did not issue a statement until nearly six hours after the explosion.
