For a decade, residents of Saint John Harbour have endured daily disturbances from the American Iron and Metal scrap metal facility. Ongoing reports of excessive noise, dust, smoke, and explosions have become a fixture of daily life for residents, who have experienced a significant loss of quality of life, and in many cases, significant loss of property value to the point where some residents are unable to sell their homes or to move. Many residents have also reported health impacts, with respiratory illness, depression, and chronic anxiety.

Under the current approval to operate, explosions events trigger a temporary shutdown until appropriate fire and environment officials can visit the site and provide a report. This requirement has not resulted in any reduction of explosions. In practice, the current requirement effectively enables explosions to continue with little consequence for AIM, and in recent months, explosions have in fact become more frequent despite these requirements.

On November 27, Saint John Common Council issued a motion calling on the province to implement a 24 hour shutdown for explosions at the AIM site, and make further clarification on the definitions for an explosion.

We are supporting this request in asking our provincial government to follow through with real, tangible steps to make a positive impact on the lives of residents in the area, by implementing a mandatory 24 hour shutdown following all fires or explosion events.

We believe a zero-tolerance policy for fires and explosions need to be implemented for the safety of AIM employees, the well-being of residents, and the sustainability of our community.