News Release

FREDERICTON (GNB) – American Iron & Metal in Saint John has received its approval to operate for six months, effective June 1.

“We are listening to the concerns of Saint John residents,” said Environment and Local Government Minister Jeff Carr. “It was a collaborative effort. The company has made progress in the past six months and we will continue to hold it accountable.’’

The facility, which is located at the Port of Saint John on the city’s west side, recycles metal.

The approval to operate requires AIM to continue work on monitoring and mitigating issues of public concern including noise, dust, explosions and surface water runoff.

One of the main concerns expressed by Saint John residents in the past few months has been noise created by explosions in the shredder.

Under the last amended order, AIM had to shut down operations if an explosion exceeded a sound level of 109 dBA. The company had to report the incident to the Department of Environment and Local Government and the Saint John Fire Department. It could not resume operations until all issues were resolved to the satisfaction of environment and fire department officials.

Under the new approval to operate, the sound level reading has been lowered to 104 dBA.

“We want to ensure the company is vigilant and it does not cause excessive noise or vibration during its operations,’’ said Carr.

Some of the other conditions in the new approval to operate include requirements to:

• monitor fine particulate matter concentrations in ambient air and determine the chemical composition of the fine particulate matter.

• continue with the noise assessment study.

• continue implementation of the action items from the surface water runoff assessment study.

• conduct audits at the sites of the suppliers to prevent receiving explosive materials at the AIM facility.