Piles of scrap metal and batteries burned in the courtyard of a recycling plant in Montreal’s east end on Thursday, causing a plume of thick, white smoke to drape the city in acrid-smelling fumes.

The fire at the recycling plant, the American Iron and Metal (AIM) facility, prompted an investigation by Quebec’s Environment Ministry and a health warning from Santé Montréal.

And the City of Montreal announced that it is revoking the company’s operating permit, citing repeated pollution violations. 

“Despite repeated requests from the City of Montreal over the years to bring the site into compliance, repeated excessive levels of PCBs, particulate matter, and metals continue to be measured at the property line of the company’s site,” said Rosiane Tessier, a spokesperson for the city’s executive committee.

The facility is located in Montréal-Est, a municipality near the eastern tip of the Montreal island.

Firefighters began battling the blaze around 5:45 a.m. They said industrial material was burning in the plant’s courtyard near the corner of Henri Bourassa East and Rodolphe Forget boulevards.

More than 20 firefighting vehicles were deployed to try to put out the fire.

But heavy smoke billowed from the site and snarled traffic around the plant.

Quebec’s Environment Ministry said it was notified at 6:30 a.m. of a fire in the plant’s courtyard and says the fire began as a battery fire that spread to a pile of scrap metal.

The plume of white smoke billowed towards the southwest, the Environment Ministry said — aided by strong winds.

Environment Canada said wind speeds were 20 kilometres per hour, with gusts of 40 kilometres per hour, out of the northwest.

The ministry issued no evacuation or confinement notice, but it did deploy a mobile laboratory to the area to attempt to determine the risk caused by the fumes.

WATCH | A fire caused a plume of thick, white smoke to drape the city in acrid-smelling fumes:

Here’s what’s behind the acrid smell wafting over Montreal

Some Montrealers woke up to a strange smell, prompting a public safety notice from the city and an investigation by Quebec’s Environment Ministry. Piles of batteries and scrap metal burned in the courtyard of a recycling plant in Montréal-Est on Thursday.

Santé Montréal issued a notice on social media warning that the fire was affecting air quality.

The warning says people experiencing symptoms like chest pain should stay indoors, close their windows and reduce outdoor physical activity.

Young children, people with respiratory illnesses, pregnant people, seniors and those working outside are at higher risk.

Thursday morning, air quality trackers like IQAir showed higher than normal particle levels downwind of the AIM facility, with levels measuring “unhealthy for sensitive groups” in some areas.

As of Thursday afternoon, air quality levels appeared to have stabilized, with most areas showing as “good” quality.

Pollution levels high around the plant

Anne St-Laurent, the mayor of Montréal-Est, said the City of Montreal’s decision to revoke the plant’s operating permit on the same day as the fire was pure coincidence. 

The city had already made the decision, she said, following years of testing the environment around the plant and detecting high levels of harmful polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). 

The import, manufacture, and sale of PCBs was made illegal in Canada in 1977. Releasing PCBs into the environment has been illegal since 1985. The handling, transport and destruction of PCBs are also regulated, mostly under provincial regulations.

St-Laurent said the company refused to reduce its emissions to the required levels. Now, the permit revocation means the plant has to cease operating three of its machines or reduce emissions within 30 days.  

“A company like that has to conform to the environmental regulations in place,” she said. “We gave them time to conform, unfortunately they haven’t done so.”

A spokesperson for AIM said its teams were managing the fire and said nobody was injured. The spokesperson said the company was reviewing communications it had received from the City of Montreal and “is currently evaluating its options.”

“It is important to note that AIM employs more than 1,900 people in Québec, including 1,200 in the east end of the Montreal region,” the spokesperson said. “AIM remains a key contributor to the province’s circular economy.”