AIM CEO’s comments about safety concerns 'unfortunate' and 'disappointing': Saint John councillor

Reaction to AIM president comments There's plenty of reaction the day after comments were made by the president and CEO of American Iron and Metal about two workplace deaths.

A Saint John city councillor who’s pushing for an immediate review of the American Iron and Metal (AIM) recycling plant says comments from the company’s president and CEO in response to safety concerns are “unfortunate” and “disappointing.”

AIM president and CEO Herbert Black told reporters on Tuesday the company wasn’t responsible for two separate incidents leading to the deaths of two people.

“I don’t see what my facility could’ve done to prevent it at this juncture,” said Black at the news conference.

Councillor David Hickey said Black’s response was “frustrating” but not a surprise.

“That’s been the narrative they’ve held for awhile and I hoped that in light of the two recent deaths over the last seven months there would’ve been some recognition of empathy toward the community and empathy toward the impact they’ve had on this community,” said Hickey, in an interview Wednesday. “It was clear there was none.”

A motion presented by Hickey calling on the provincial government to take action in addressing the incidents was carried last week at city hall.

“I want to see the province take a serious look at its operating agreement with AIM along with the full implementation of WorkSafe NB’s requests,” said Hickey.

WorkSafeNB reiterated both investigations were ongoing on Wednesday. The provincial government directed all questions regarding both investigations to WorkSafeNB.

“We’ll find out if I’m not safe and if I’m not safe I’ll have it corrected, that’s all I can do,” said Black, on Tuesday.

Green Party MLA Kevin Arseneau said the denial of any responsibility from Herbert Black was “worrisome.”

“I was really shocked by the comment,” said Arseneau. “To not take responsibility, to see that in any workplace accident that there can be changes brought, things thought out, this kind of very defensive position for me is worrisome in general.”