Revoke AIM Recycling’s Licence: Saint John MP
SAINT JOHN–There are growing calls for the province to revoke the operating licence for a Saint John recycling plant.
It comes after a second workplace death at the American Iron and Metal (AIM) facility in the past seven months.
Darrell Richards, 60, died in the hospital last Friday, one day after being injured at the west side facility.
“Enough is enough,” Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long said in a tweet on Wednesday.
In an interview on Wednesday afternoon, Long said he was “horrified” to hear about the fatal incident. The MP said it is time for the province to step in and revoke AIM Recycling’s approval to operate.
“That’s where the lever is,” said Long. “The province can revoke–suspend the operating permit and I’m calling on the province to do that immediately until we find out exactly what’s going on there.”
“When we had two deaths in the last seven months, it is not safe and we need to correct it. If they can’t correct it, I’m calling for them to be shut down.”
In fact, Long would like to see AIM end its operations at the current site on the west side of Port Saint John.
The future of the facility has been debated many times over the years, with explosions both large and small rocking the surrounding area.
“I’m all about economic activity, I’m all about jobs, but there’s a point where this is not safe:it’s not safe for the workers, it’s not safe for the community, and we need to take action,” he said.
Department Of Labour, WorkSafeNB Respond
Revoking AIM Recycling’s approval to operate from the Department of Environment province is not as easy as it sounds. A spokesperson for the Department of Labour said the approval is related solely to environmental requirements.
“Those would not factor into a workplace incident of this nature,” spokesperson Paul Bradley wrote in a statement.
Bradley noted that WorkSafeNB, which investigates workplace incidents, does have the ability to issue a stop-work order against “any process or machine that they deem to be of immediate risk to workers’ safety.”
That is exactly what happened after last Thursday’s incident, according to a spokesperson with WorkSafeNB.
Laragh Dooley said a stop-work order has been issued for the piece of machinery involved in the incident — a press roller for preparing for recycling.
“The stop-work order will be lifted only once our evidence suggests it is safe to operate all rollers,” Dooley wrote in an email.
“WorkSafeNB would only shut down an entire facility when unsafe or unhealthy working conditions are observed without acceptable controls in place or to allow an investigator to gather evidence after an incident.”
Meanwhile, Dooley said the investigations into both workplace incidents continue, noting that “complex investigations” such as fatalities can take 12 months or more to complete.
“Once the investigation is complete, depending on the findings, WorkSafeNB may recommend that the Department of Justice lay charges against AIM for violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its regulations,” said Dooley.
Meanwhile, Labour Minister Trevor Holder said the tragic incidents at AIM Recycling over the last number of months “deeply concern” him.
“At the end of last week, upon learning of the incident at the AIM facility, I reached out to WorkSafeNB to receive an update and to express these concerns,” Holder said in a statement, without elaborating further.
Holder said he has been assured that all steps are being taken to ensure a thorough investigation is carried out.