A Hamilton scrap metal recycling and recovery services company has been fined $85,000 for failing to comply with a provincial order related to explosions during shredding operations.
The convictions concern several explosions at American Iron & Metal at Steel City Court between October 2020 and January 2021.
During this time the Ministry of Ontario received 34 separate complaints of “noise and vibration” from the local community.
The ministry’s Environmental Investigations and Enforcement Branch investigated and laid charges which resulted in the convictions.
The company reported that crushed car bodies were being processed in the shredder at the time of the explosions and that the explosions were likely due to residual gas in gas tanks and/or concealed pressurized vessels.
American Iron & Metal has also been ordered to pay a victim surcharge of $21,251 for violations of the Environmental Protection Act.