Home owners near a recycling plant in Saint John say their property values are going down.
Chief among their complaints is safety.
“Friday morning was really bad,” says Marguerite Vautour. “It was a real explosion, and yeah, it's getting ridiculous and we're tired of it.”
Vautour is referring to a blast that occurred early Friday morning.
It happened on the city’s west side at the American Iron & Metal recycling facility.
It was a rude awakening for her houseguest.
“She jumped out of the bed because she thought it was the house itself exploding,” Vautour said.
The force of the explosion did more than shake buildings, says Howard Lord.
“I’d say the last one was probably a month, month-and-a-half ago, but it was just small compared to what happened there in the morning,” he said.
Lord, 75, has lived in his home most of his life. It, too, is right next to the facility, which he says he'd like to see moved.
“I think most people from here to Martello Tower would like to see it out of here,” Lord said.
It’s not just the explosions from this recycling facility that are causing concern for Saint Johners. There are worries as well about property values.
“Because of this, the value went really down,” Vautour said. “I wish they could buy us out, or something.”
The company did report the explosion to the provincial department of environment. The department is following up with the company.
Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long says Transport Canada is monitoring the situation and the Port of Saint John says that American Iron & Metal did conduct an incident investigation.
CTV News reached out to the company for an interview, but nobody was available Monday.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Lyall.
