Explosion Rocks AIM Facility In Saint John

There has been another explosion at the American Iron & Metal recycling facility on the west side of Port Saint John.

Paula Copeland, a spokesperson for the Port, said they were notified of a “small explosion” which took place at 5:26 p.m. Wednesday.

The Saint John Fire Department said it was also made aware of a “small incident” at the recycling facility.

“They have a reporting structure and anything that does take place reports to us,” said Platoon Chief Brian Wilson.

Wilson said it was not a “recordable incident” as the decibel level of the explosion fell below the set parameters.

As part of the facility’s new approval to operate issued in June 2019, AIM must shut down operations if an explosion exceeded a sound level of 104 decibels.

It could not resume operations until all issues were resolved to the satisfaction of officials with the Department of Environment and the Saint John Fire Department.

The explosion comes two months after a large fire at AIM on Sept. 24 prompted a large response by emergency crews.

The company later said the fire was caused by an “undetected non-ferrous chunk of material that overheated.”

Mayor Don Darling posted about the incident on Twitter on Wednesday evening, calling for action to address the issues at the facility.

“Enough is enough,” Darling wrote in a tweet. “This is not about being anti industry or about being anti port. In my opinion this facility is not following its approval to operate and it’s impacting people’s lives. Time for action is now and explosion must not be normalized.”