Pressure mounts on AIM to relocate auto shredder

The St. John (New Brunswick) Council has submitted a letter to the New Brunswick Environment and Local Government Minister calling for the province to request American Iron and Metal (AIM) relocate an auto shredder it is operating at the Port of St. John, New Brunswick, according to a report from CBC.

The current two-year permit was signed in June 2017, with the renewed permit to be approved by June 1 to keep the plant in operation.

According to the report, the AIM facility has been under an interim permit since December 2018, when dozens of explosions caused by the plant’s shredder spurred the province to step in with a stop work order. After discussion, the company was allowed to reopen under a set of stringent conditions and environmental testing requirements.

A recommendation included in the letter states that the “enhanced environmental monitoring … including sound, air and water quality monitoring” that make up part of the interim approval to operate must be audited by a third party before a new permanent permit is granted.