Deadline looms for AIM to respond to Saint John fire report

A deadline looms Friday for American Iron and Metal to respond to findings about a fire at its Saint John scrapyard, a response the province sought before a decision on whether to revoke AIM's licence to operate.

A spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety said the province was still awaiting the response as of noon.

But even if there is a response by 11:59 p.m., the province has signalled there won't be an immediate decision.

"After the deadline, the Department of Public Safety will review and discuss the response and have an update next week,"AllanDearingsaid in a statement Friday.

The deadline was set by Kris Austin, the public safety minister, in a Dec. 8 letter to AIM following the release of a task force report.

The report examined the Sept. 14 fire that burned at the Quebec-based company's Saint John scrapyard for 40 hours,sending a toxic smoke over the city and requiring 22 million gallons of water to extinguish.

The fire began overnight high up in a pile of shredded scrap metal, which was about 12 to 15 metres tall.

While an exact cause wasn't determined, the report says it was likely a rechargeable battery. Rechargeable lithium ion batteries were found at the site.

The report found the city's fire department wasn't sufficiently equipped to fight the fire,AIM didn't have a proper emergency plan,the scrap piles were more than the six metres prescribed by the National Fire Code of Canada, the operation carried a "significant risk of explosion and fire," and there was a high likelihood of another fire in the future.

"The location of the AIM operation, in the middle of the Saint John community, adjacent to the harbour and a residential neighbourhood, is entirely inappropriate given its now known hazards and risks," the report states.

WATCH | A look at the fire at AIM recycling plant from Sept 14:

Crews battle fire at metal recycling plant along Saint John Harbour

12 months ago

Duration 0:39

The fire began early Thursday morning at American Iron and Metal recycling plant on the west side of the city.

The minister's letter to AIM earlier this month pointed out the company's port site was within 300 metres of a playground. The Unsightly Premises Act forbids scrapyards that close to schools, playgrounds and public parks.

"This raises further concerns about the AIM operations and whether it is in the public interest for AIM to continue to hold a Salvage Dealers Licence for this location," Austin's letter states.

The company has been largely silent. It issued a statement Dec. 6 saying it was reviewing the task force report findings.

A request for comment on Friday went unanswered.

The task force report's findingsled to inspections of 87 scrapyards across the province.Ten of those sites weren't in compliance, the province has previously said.

Of those 10, three belong to AIM. One is a second location in Saint John, one is in Fredericton, and another is in Moncton, where residents have been calling for it to be relocated.

The province hasn't disclosed what specific issues were found at each of the 10 sites.They were initially given until Dec. 21 to fix them but now that that deadline has passed the province has said they are getting extensions.

Dearingsaid Friday that the sites with the highest fire risk will be "remediated in the coming weeks," andthose with lower risks, such as a missing fence, will get longer extensions.

Dearing said all siteshad a combination of issues, such asmissing fencing,missing No Smoking signs, portable fire extinguishers, pile size and heights, and pile separation from other piles, buildings or vegetation.

The statement from the province didn't address what the consequences would be if a site doesn't comply.