Copper thefts plague construction industry

The copper was valuable because it could be sold as scrap to metal-recycling centers.

The thieves failed, however. A witness, who was working overnight at the adjacent Orthopaedic Specialists of Springfield, saw the suspicious activity and called police.

“We were very lucky in this case,” said Scott Hotsinpiller, Killian Construction Co.’s project manager for the $5.7 million, three-story bank, slated for completion in March. The low-voltage elevator wiring would have amounted to about a $2,000 loss, he said.

Overall, Killian Construction and other contractors haven’t been so lucky, though. Copper theft is running rampant, they say, fueled by copper prices that have tripled in three years.

Thieves in November stole $8,000 in copper plumbing from Killian’s Students In Free Enterprise project on Springfield’s north side. Killian also recently had $45,000 in copper plumbing stolen from a hotel project in Kansas City.

“It’s got much, much worse in the last three or four years,” said John Melton, owner of Melton Electric Co., which was victimized three times in 2006. The last time Melton Electric got hit, thieves took 1,000 pounds of wire worth about $4,000.

Melton has since beefed up the security at his 419 N. Main Ave. business, installing improved lighting and security cameras.

“It’s definitely a national problem. In fact, it’s an international problem,” said Bryan McGannon, director of media relations and marketing for Washington D.C.-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc.

McGannon said copper, like other commodities, is traded on exchanges, and its price is determined by market demand. In recent years, the price has increased because of higher demand in booming Asian countries and supply pressures caused by labor strikes at South American copper mines.

Copper traded on the London Metal Exchange for less than $1 per pound in January 2003. It was up to about $2 in January 2006 and shot up to $3.50 by that summer, according to ISRI.

Copper is currently trading for about $3 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The price increases provided more than enough incentive for crooks to seek scrap to sell.

While it seems universally accepted that copper thefts have been on the rise, reliable figures to back that up are scarce.

Officials with the Springfield Police Department and Greene County Prosecuting Attorney’s office don’t track copper thefts, specifically.

Sheryl Letterman, executive director of Springfield Contractors Association, said she’s heard many stories of copper thefts, but she hasn’t surveyed her membership to figure out how many of them have been affected.

Detective Ron Killingsworth of the Greene County Sheriff’s Department said there have been more than 30 copper thefts reported in Greene County, outside of Springfield city limits, during the last year.

Regardless, Killingsworth said confidently that the increase in copper thefts locally has been “substantial” during the last two years.

Killingsworth advises contractors to inscribe building permit numbers on copper wiring and piping in order to give law enforcement officials a way of tracking stolen copper if recovered.

Bob McCarty, manager of Commercial Metals Co., however, said thieves could easily remove permit numbers.

Thieves will typically burn off wire coating, for example, before they bring the scrap to his recycling center at 634 E. Phelps St.

While McCarty said it’s not easy to identify stolen copper, Commercial Metals has security measures in place to avoid buying the stolen goods. Employees make copies of sellers’ driver’s licenses and make note of their cars’ license plate numbers. Also, security cameras record all the transactions.

“If the contractors get a hold of us in time, we can catch them here,” McCarty said.[[In-content Ad]]