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TORONTO — American Iron & Metal Company Inc. (AIM) has been convicted of three violations under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) and fined $85,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $21,250 and given one year to pay.

The convictions are for, on three separate occasions, failing to comply with a ministry order by failing to ensure that no prohibited materials were processed within a shredder unless all gases, fluids or other substances that may cause an explosion had been removed.

The offence occurred on various dates between October 22, 2020 and January 7, 2021.

The conviction was handed down June 20 by a Hamilton, Ont. court.

AIM provides scrap metal recycling and recovery services and operates a metal recycling facility located on Steel City Court in Hamilton.

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 and 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 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.

Between October 2020 and January 2021, several explosions occurred at the site, states a court bulletin, adding 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.

Following the incidents, AIM has improved its inspection program and related procedures to deter suppliers from including prohibited materials in their loads and has a detailed program in place to minimize the potential for prohibited materials from entering the shredder, the bulletin reads.