AIM President and CEO Herb Black gives a passionate speech.
American Iron and Metal held a public meeting Wednesday night, where residents voiced their concerns over the recycling facility’s operations.
Vernon Lanteigne has lived right beside the west side shredding facility for over 50 years, and told AIM President and CEO Herb Black it has negatively impacted his well-being.
“That operation, the noise levels, the pollution, everything that comes from it. I don’t know what I’m breathing. In the past few years, I’ve lost my wife, I’ve lost half a lung. I can’t attribute it to your operation, but it sure as hell didn’t help,” he said.
Lanteigne also says he is having trouble selling his house due to its proximity to AIM.
Black suggested he will buy the house, and plans on getting the property assessed.
Black is having a discussion with an audience member who says the noise of loading the ships keeps him up at night.
“I’ll move in with you then, to see how bad it is,” says Black.
— Danielle McCreadie (@danimccreadie) October 16, 2019
The public meeting also drew a large crowd of concerned politicians, including Mayor Don Darling, several councillors and Environment Minister Jeff Carr.
Black spoke out against the provincial and local governments for shutting down his plant last winter due to explosions.
Black says he feels the meeting was “a success.”
“You know why? I was able to share with the people the truth in that I’ve had no cooperation from the mayor and no cooperation from [Port Saint John CEO] Jim Quinn, and no cooperation from the minister [Jeff Carr]. When I called them, they all ran away,” he said.
When the question was put to Carr, he said he hasn’t had any direct calls with Black, but has spoken with several of his employees.
Carr, who came under fire by Black several times throughout the evening, says despite the conflicts he’s seen positive changes.
“The work that we’ve put in is working. There’s been zero explosions since July 12th and the particles and the air quality are pretty good, acceptable levels, I think,” he said.
“We gave them six months to perform better in the community and so far the work has been put in to show that there is improvement.”
As to whether the facility’s operating renewal will be extended at the end of December, Carr says “we will have to wait and see.”
Here’s a snippet from Black’s pointed speech toward Carr and Darling. “The people in power think they’re too powerful,” he says. pic.twitter.com/19wi0XYquy
— Danielle McCreadie (@danimccreadie) October 16, 2019
Positive Changes Underway
Attendees at Wednesday’s meeting also heard presentations from air quality and noise experts who have been monitoring concerns at AIM.
Matthew DesRoches, a consultant, gave a breakdown of what they found in the air after doing some testing—most of it was rust and iron.
He says other potentially dangerous metals were not detected.
“There’s going to be dust,” he said of the operations at AIM, which are often messy.
One resident offered some positive feedback, saying he was glad to see AIM doing more air quality testing and regular monitoring, which was something the community had asked for.
The facility is also tracking noise and looking at mitigation efforts, according to Patrice Choquette, an expert in acoustics and vibration.
He says the facility is trying to reduce metal to metal contact, which creates the majority of the noise.
“AIM has monitoring stations inside the site to see how operations do generate noise,” he said. There are also monitoring stations within the community.
A study done of the recycling yard found that the noise produced ranges from 50 to 80 decibels. Choquette describes 50 dB as similar to an office HVAC system, while 80 dB is closer to a garbage disposal.
He says while there are no strict guidelines or regulations for noise levels in Canada, AIM does have criteria to not exceed 80 dB.
Choquette says sometimes they do exceed it, sometimes they fall far below it, but what it really comes down to is the weather.
During an open discussion, resident Kathleen McNamara says the noise bothers her, especially the sound of the explosions.
She does point out that she doesn’t want to see the facility moved or shut down, but wants homeowners to have the chance to be heard.
Gary MacDonald, a community leader and former news director at Acadia Broadcasting, says this was the goal of homeowners from the beginning: to find a way to peacefully coexist with AIM.
He says a committee meets monthly with representatives from AIM, local and provincial governments, and various other stakeholders.
“A line of communication has been opened with the company.”
