Explosions at Scrap Yard Rankle City Leader

A recent explosion at the Metals Recycling LLC facility in Johnston, RI, has renewed the call by some local government officials to take action against the scrap recycler.

It was so loud it set off car alarms in the neighborhood surrounding the giant scrap metal operation.

Johnston Mayor William Macera shook his head. Just a few hours earlier he'd met with Metals officials, the fire chief, the police chief and Town Councilman Joseph Wells to discuss a wave of explosions at the plant late last year.

Macera said he called the recent meeting with Metals Recycling after the explosions at the plant in December. Fire Department records show there was about one explosion per week that month. This month there have been two.

Macera said the point of the meeting was to search for ways to prevent explosions.

The blasts have been a problem at Metals for years. They almost always occur as junk cars are pulverized inside Metals' auto-shredder. Metals officials blame the explosions on propane tanks hidden inside the cars by people who are too lazy to dispose of them properly.

The explosions don't incinerate neighborhoods -- but they are loud and rattle the earth.

And they're not supposed to happen.

Last spring, Wells pushed the council to shut the plant down for repeated explosions inside the auto-shredder and fires that erupted in piles of auto-shredder residue -- or "fluff." The council backed off when Metals promised to make the plant safer and reduce noise.

So far the plant has redesigned its fluff storage area and beefed up the inspection process that searches cars for propane tanks before they hit the auto-shredder. The plant also pays a Johnston firefighter to keep watch at the plant every day.

Fire Chief Cipriano said the explosions in December happened because the Metals employee who ran inspections left to take another job. The company has had to train a new inspector, Cipriano said, who's not as experienced as the last one.

"Before that, everything was going fine," Cipriano said. "There was a minimal amount of explosions."

Macera said several options for reducing explosions were considered during the meeting. For example, Metals could set up a collection bin for propane tanks to encourage people to dispose of them properly. Another option would be to enclose the auto-shredder -- which is at least two or three stories tall -- in a soundproof building.

But Macera said neither of those options seemed likely to stop the problem completely. Realistically, he said, not many people are likely to use the disposal bin and the soundproof building would be enormously expensive.

Wells agreed that the proposals probably wouldn't work.

"As far as I'm concerned, Metals isn't saying anything more than they've always been saying.

"Frankly I'm getting tired of going to meetings and hearing the mayor and the fire chief defend Metals. The mayor asked me what my opinion was and I said my opinion was zero tolerance."

Wells said it was time for Metals to consider moving out of the neighborhood. He suggested there might be a way for the town to help find Metals a new home.

"If they truly are making the best effort they can, it's not working," he said. "So where does that leave us?"

Macera said asking an operation like Metals -- the largest scrap dealer in Rhode Island -- to move out isn't realistic. He suggested he wouldn't use his power to shut Metals down because he said doing so would probably lead to a long, costly court battle. Macera said he preferred working with Metals to solve the problem.

David Preston, a spokesman for Metals, said the company was concerned about the recent rise in explosions. He said Metals would work with the town to find a solution to the problem.

"Obviously the company is determined to be a good neighbor," Preston said.

But Wells said that's impossible.

"They can never be a nice neighbor," he said. "The nature of that business, there's no way it can ever be a good neighbor." Providence (Rhode Island) Journal