AIM accuses port of conflict, refuses to move

Article content

Officials with American Iron and Metal claim its landlord, Port Saint John, was in a conflict of interest by serving on a task force investigating the company’s massive September fire, court documents reveal.

In August and in September, Port Saint John “urged” the scrap metal recycler to consider relocating to allow “another industrial tenant” to take over AIM’s leased property at the west side docks, according to an affidavit from Michael Cormier, the company’s vice-president of the eastern region.

After the fire occurred and the task force was struck, AIM raised its conflict allegation with task force chair Cheryl Hansen, clerk of the provincial government’s Executive Council Office. According to emails submitted as evidence in a lawsuit, in November she told AIM there wasn’t a conflict.

Yet it’s not clear whether Hansen knew about the nature of the talks between AIM and the port when she said this. To clarify this point, Brunswick News asked Hansen if she was aware of these discussions and if they would have changed her position as to whether there was a conflict of interest.

In an email, government spokesperson Alycia Bartlett declined comment on Hansen’s behalf, citing the ongoing legal action between AIM and the Province of New Brunswick.

AIM is asking the court to quash Environment Minister Gary Crossman’s decision to suspend the company’s approval to operate in the wake of the fire at its Gateway Street scrapyard on Sept. 14-15, 2023. That licence allows the company to operate its industrial shredder at that site – something AIM hasn’t been able to do since the massive blaze.

In the days after the fire, Craig Bell Estabrooks, president and CEO of Port Saint John, told media the port authority and AIM had been in talks to relocate the shredder. He revealed this information alongside Premier Blaine Higgs at a press conference, where they announced the creation of a provincial task force to investigate the fire.

But there was no mention Port Saint John had another tenant lined up for the property, and that AIM had rejected the relocation proposal, as alleged by Cormier in his affidavit.

“AIM was not interested in the (Saint John Port Authority’s) relocation proposal and informed the SJPA of its intention to remain at the property,” Cormier said in his affidavit dated Feb. 12.

None of the allegations contained in the lawsuit have been proven in court, and the Province of New Brunswick has yet to file a statement of defence.

Port Saint John declined to comment on AIM’s conflict of interest allegation, citing the court case. Brunswick News also requested comment from AIM officials and did not receive a response.

Tensions flare over investigation

Tensions between AIM and Port Saint John flared last fall in the thick of the task force’s investigation into the fire, according to more than 900 pages of court records Brunswick News has reviewed.

In an Oct. 3 email, task force vice-chair Andrew Dixon, chief operating officer (COO) of Port Saint John, first asked Doug Crawford, AIM’s executive vice-president of operations, to provide the names and contact information of the employees who were on site before, during and after the fire.

Dixon said he was looking for this information to share it with third-party fire investigators the task force had hired. He then followed up with a list of 43 questions for AIM about the fire and the company’s daily operations.

On behalf of AIM, Crawford initially raised objections to making employees available and answering the questions submitted by Dixon, according to emails.

Crawford questioned whether Dixon was asking for information in his role as task force vice-chair or Port Saint John COO – Dixon responded both – and whether the port authority or its agents actually had the power to interview the company’s employees. To the latter, Dixon responded that Port Saint John had “investigative authority” under the terms of its lease with AIM.

On Nov. 8, after weeks had passed, Hansen intervened by letter, writing to Crawford that the company had made several unfilled “commitments” to assist in the investigation.

In a Nov. 15 email, Hansen wrote to Crawford thanking him for a recent call to discuss his allegation that Port Saint John had a conflict of interest by participating in the task force while being the company’s landlord.

“The task force is not a decision-maker, therefore, conflict of interest principles do not apply, and in addition we are satisfied no conflict exists,” Hansen wrote in that email.

In a lengthy response, Crawford laid out AIM’s concerns with the provincial task force, including its mandate, authority and composition.

“We reiterate, the task force should be composed of all stakeholders and parties with appropriate expertise,” Crawford said. “Despite inclusion of three employees of the (Saint John Port Authority), the task force excludes AIM, the central party in this incident, and the Department which has jurisdiction over AIM’s operations and the Clean Air Act.”

New Brunswick’s environment department has oversight of AIM’s approval to operate, but it didn’t have representation on the task force because it’s the regulator, the department previously told Brunswick News.

In addition to Hansen and Dixon, the task force was made up of Attorney General Ted Flemming, then Labour Minister Arlene Dunn, and Bruce Connell and Alex Calvin, both of Port Saint John.

Status of remediation work unclear

AIM ultimately made its employees available and also answered Dixon’s questions, but it declined to meet with fire investigator Rob Simonds to discuss community impact of the fire, according to evidence submitted as part of the lawsuit.

Dozens of stakeholders were consulted to form the community impact report the task force reviewed as part of its investigation.

In its own report, the task force ultimately concluded the current location of AIM’s west Saint John scrapyard was “entirely inappropriate given its now known hazards and risks.”

Shortly after the report was released in December, Public Safety Minister Kris Austin revoked the salvage dealer’s licence for the scrapyard. He specifically cited the findings of the investigation conducted by the task force.

By that point, the province’s environment department had already suspended AIM’s approval to operate. It had done so days after the fire.

In its statement of claim, AIM alleges Crossman used his discretion as environment minister “unreasonably and arbitrarily” by “relying excessively upon the actions taken and the information gathered by the task force and the Saint John Port Authority to the point of fettering his discretion.”

As of February, Port Saint John and AIM were at loggerheads over the company’s remedial action plan for the now contaminated scrapyard site, according to correspondence submitted as evidence.

Port Saint John refused to answer questions about the status of the remediation work, while AIM did not respond to similar questions as of press time.