Stop-work order to remain in effect at Saint John AIM facility after reports of early-morning explosion

A stop-work order is set to remain in effect at the American Iron and Metal Inc., (AIM)  facility in Saint John after an “incident” on Monday.

The New Brunswick Department of Environment and Local Government says their intention was to allow AIM to operate under a 90-day trial period beginning on Monday morning.

However, before the department was able to deliver the orders to AIM and officially lift the company’s stop-work order, an “incident” was reported at the facility.

The Port of Saint John described the incident to Global News as an explosion and says it occurred at 10:30 a.m.

“More steps will need to be taken prior to the company restarting,” said Jeff Carr, Minister of Environment and Local Government Jeff Carr in a statement to Global News.

“The Department will be communicating with the company to discuss next steps before it can start operating again.”

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READ MORE: Department of Environment gives AIM permission to restart Saint John operations Monday

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Herb Black, the owner of AIM, says the facility, including the shredder, never restarted because of issues getting sufficient power.

“What caused the explosion obviously materials being accumulated and not being able to be tested and not being able to be identified,” said Black.

Black had previously said that if the company wasn’t up and running by Monday, he wouldn’t be able to fill a scrap order for December and would likely be forced to shut the plant down permanently.

Saint John mayor Don Darling says the city and the industry must coexist in a sustainable way. He says time will judge the current situation with AIM when it does reopen.

“I am willing to give it a bit of time to allow a new process to be tested,” he said on Monday.

Black says he expects the issues to be solved over the new few days.

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The New Brunswick government ordered AIM to cease all of its operations on Nov. 22, as the result of multiple complaints over explosions and excessive noise in the weeks before New Brunswick stepped in.

The company’s metal shredder was found to be the source of at least some of the complaints, having caused more than 40 explosions in the past 16 months.

The department says it has been working with AIM since the order was issued, and the company has put a plan in place that would’ve allowed it to restart operations.

The plan reportedly requires AIM to take measures to eliminate explosions and the impact of excessive noise and vibrations on site and at their supply source.

— With files from Andrew Cromwell