US EditionMontreal issues air quality warning from scrapyard fire in east end
The city said repeated PCB, metal and particulate emissions at the site made permit suspensions insufficient.
- On Thursday, a lithium battery ignited a massive fire at the American Iron & Metal scrapyard in Montreal's east end, prompting Santé Montréal to issue an urgent air quality alert and lock down nearby health facilities.
- Quebec's Environment Ministry reported the blaze began with a battery igniting scrap metal, while the City of Montreal moved to revoke AIM's operating permit due to persistent PCB and arsenic emissions exceeding legal limits.
- Roughly 55 firefighters and 24 trucks battled the blaze until 11 a.m., as Santé Montréal advised residents to close windows and reduce outdoor activity due to potential health risks from thick smoke.
- Citing citizen safety, the City of Montreal's executive committee announced it had "exhausted all options" regarding compliance, revoking AIM's permit after finding emissions more than 90 times the permitted PCB level.
- This incident follows a 2023 fire at an AIM facility in Saint John, where a task force labeled the company an "environmental, health and safety risk," signaling a pattern of regulatory concern.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Montreal issues air quality warning from scrapyard fire in east end
MONTREAL — A scrapyard fire in Montreal’s east end has led to preventive lockdowns of all health facilities in the area. Montreal’s public health department issued an air quality alert after an outdoor vehicle-recycling plant caught fire early this morning near Highway 40. Anik Vaillancourt with the city’s fire department says 24 fire trucks and […]
Smoke blankets Montreal as recycling plant fire prompts health warning, investigation
A fire at a recycling plant in Montréal-Est prompted an investigation by Quebec's Environment Ministry, a health warning from Santé Montréal and caused a plume of thick, white smoke to drape the city in acrid-smelling fumes.
The U.S. Iron and Metal Company consistently exceeded standards and was hit by fire on Thursday.
A fire reportedly broke out on Rue Henri-Bourassa East, in an industrial sector, in a car recycling company.
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