American Iron & Metal fined $85,000 for Environmental Protection Act violations | Canadian Occupational Safety

Ministry received 34 separate complaints of noise and vibration following explosions at metal recycling facility

Ontario employer American Iron & Metal Company Inc. (AIM) has been fined $85,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $21,250 and given one year to pay.

The fine is for various offences between Oct. 22, 2020 and Jan. 7, 2021, according to the provincial government.

The employer – which operates a metal recycling facility located on Steel City Court in Hamilton, Ontario – was convicted on Oct. 20, 2024.

According to the government, in March 2020, AIM commissioned a scrap metal shredder as part of their operations at the site. The shredder reduces the physical size of scrap metal including end-of-life vehicles, household appliances and other metal.

The shredder also separates ferrous metals from non-ferrous metals and other materials such as rubber and plastics that are commonly referred to as automobile shredder residuals.

In May 2020, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks issued an order to AIM requiring the company to ensure that no prohibited materials were processed within the shredder unless all gases, fluids and other substances that may cause an explosion had been removed.

However, between October 2020 and January 2021, several explosions occurred at the site, said the Ontario government.

AIM reported that crushed car bodies were being processed in the shredder at the time of the explosions and that the cause of the explosions was likely due to residual gas in gas tanks and/or concealed pressurized vessels.

The ministry received 34 separate complaints of noise and vibration from the local community following the explosions.

The ministry’s Environmental Investigations and Enforcement Branch investigated and laid charges which resulted in the convictions.

Dave Kebick, who has lived in Parkview West most of his life, said that the community has had issues with AIM, citing "unbearable noise" in 2019, according to a CBC report.

Then AIM added a shredder to its facility.

"That's when we started seeing this air pollution," Kebick said in the report.

"We're all very concerned ... we had one family move out."

Following the incidents, the employer has made some changes, according to the Ontario government.

“Following the incidents, AIM has improved its inspection program and related procedures to deter suppliers from including prohibited materials in their loads. The company has a detailed program in place to minimize the potential for prohibited materials from entering the shredder,” said the Ontario government.

In August, AIM got approval to operate its scrapyard in New Brunswick.