High Prices Driving Metal Thieves

By NICOLE MARSHALL World Staff Writer

Attempts to remove plastic coatings can pose serious health risks.

High market prices for metals such as copper, stainless steel and aluminum have led to an increase in metal thefts in the Tulsa area.

But the thieves face dangers that outweigh any monetary rewards they might receive.

Fumes from the plastic that someone was burning off a large bundle of copper wiring inside a house Tuesday, for instance, could have been fatal.

When burned, the plastic became a flammable liquid and set the house on fire, Fire Capt. Larry Bowles said.

No one was there when firefighters arrived at the burning house at 6015 E. Xyler St., and authorities are trying to determine whether the cable had been stolen.

Burning plastics, such as the poly-vinyl chloride that was being burned off the copper, is very dangerous, Bowles said. A fully vaporized 12-inch section of half-inch PVC can produce a toxic chemical that could be deadly, he said.

Burns and electrocution can also result from attempts to steal metal, said Ed Bettinger, a spokesman for American Electric Power- Public Service Company of Oklahoma.

In August 2004, a man broke his leg and was burned when he broke into an underground transformer vault near 17th Street and Cheyenne Avenue and cut into an electrical cable to steal copper wiring.

When an energized 7,620-volt line was cut, nearby downtown Tulsa workers heard an explosion.

“It is a phenomenon we experience from time to time, and we guard against it,” Bettinger said.

“Sometimes people do try to steal metal from energized equipment. That is highly dangerous and can result in serious or even fatal injuries. It is a very risky thing to do.”

Jeffrey Ray, president and general manager of Borg Compressed Steel Corp. in Tulsa, said the most frequently stolen metals have higher market prices than others and are more readily available.

Copper wiring is a frequent target of the thieves, he said, but stainless steel and aluminum are in high demand, too.

“Over the the last year or so, theft has increased greatly because the markets have been really strong,” Ray said.

The metals draw higher prices if they are bare and free of other materials such as the insulation that is found on copper wiring. That’s why thieves burn away the plastic coating.

Bowles said he has seen evidence of this “from time to time over the years.”

“You will come upon a 55-gallon drum containing copper wire that someone had been burning,” he said.

Some metal thieves go to extreme levels to get their stolen goods, targeting industries by cutting through fences and even stealing a business’ vehicles to carry away the metal, Sgt. Greg Mathews of the Tulsa Police Department’s Burglary Unit said.

In February 2005, flagpoles from Jackson and Patrick elementary schools were cut down and stolen. Security cameras at one school captured the thieves’ images on tape, but no one was ever arrested in the heists.

Borg Steel works with local industries to watch out for materials that have been stolen, Ray said.

“They will call us to tell us they had something stolen, and we will definitely play our part to foil the crimes,” he said.

Ray said his company also takes the names of people who sell more than 30 pounds of copper or 50 pounds of aluminum to the company.

AEP-PSO employees work with law enforcement agencies and scrap metal dealers to educate them about what their wiring looks like, Bettinger said.

Michael Patton, director of Metropolitan Environmental Trust, said the price of aluminum has gone up 25 percent in the last year and that steel prices have tripled during the last few years.

“Most of the metal demand comes from the growing Asian markets, but President Bush has added and then canceled a tariff on steel. Surprisingly, the price went up both times,” Patton said.

There was a concern in the industry that the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina might create a larger supply of scrap metal than there is a demand, Ray said.

“We thought it would provide a glut in the scrap market, but we really have not seen that materialize,” he said.

Mathews said metal theft is a crime of opportunity and that most thefts occur at night.

“If the business owners notice a light out, make sure you replace it,” he said. “Sometimes burglars will knock a light out and then come back a day or so later and steal from them.”

He encouraged businesses to keep their metals where they are not visible from the street. Security patrols and surveillance cameras can also deter thieves, he said.

Nicole Marshall 581-8459

nicole.marshall@tulsaworld.com