"A sharp rise in copper theft in the last two years has lead utilities, homebuilders and even the legislature to take action to curb the practice that has exploded along with prices for the metal.
Since 1980, the Kentucky Revised Statutes have required scrap metal and junk dealers to report the names of sellers and description of copper and some other metals sold for scrap. But the recent rise in the thefts, and at least six copper theft related deaths since the start of 2006, caused a change in wording of the state law, making scrap dealers who purchase copper wiring, metal and piping criminals if they don't inform law enforcement within 24 hours.
Though the average value of a single copper theft typically ranges from $50 to $200, according Kentucky Utilities spokesman Cliff Feltham, the damage is much more costly to the utility companies and builders who have to make repairs.
"I've heard one builder say'I would give them $1,000 just not to tear out the pipe, because it is going to cost me $2,500 just to put it back in and repair the damage,'" said Todd Johnson, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Lexington.
The fairly recent phenomenon of thefts has lead homebuilders to band together in subdivisions where construction is underway, Johnson said. "There's certainly security devices in place in a lot of subdivisions now, and some builders have even gone together in the same subdivision to hire security companies to patrol the area at night and on weekends to try to cut it down," he said.
While reports of thefts have been high recently, it is a difficult crime to track, according to Sgt. Guy Greene, Lexington Division of Police, as Lexington police have only been able to nab around six people suspected in the thefts.
"It's just one of those things where there's no investigative leads," said Greene, who works with the Bureau of Investigation's Commercial Burglary Unit.
Better practices and more vigilance have local builders hoping to see a cutback in thefts this summer.
"We are very careful about when we put copper on a job, how much we're putting on it and if we think we can secure it," said Robin Schneider, vice president of operation for Schneider Designs. "We're very conscious of the theft that's been going on and trying to prevent it because it slows us down so bad."
"I don't know anybody in this industry that (copper theft) hasn't been a huge problem for in the last two yearsWe get hit quite a bit," Schneider added, though the last month has seen a slowdown in the number of reported crimes, according to Greene.
Theft is a costly situation for homebuilders like Schneider who sometimes don't realize small sections of piping are missing until houses start flooding when the water is turned on. In the case of utilities, one of the largest costs is often paid by the thieves, who run the risk of electrocution for what often amounts to less than an honest day's pay.
"We're flummoxed by all of this, because our guys know how dangerous all this stuff is just in dealing with it day-to-day," KU's Feltham said. "There's a safety discipline they go through just to work with this stuff everyday and they respect it. And here you have people that don't have any of that precautionary material, and somehow, they can get the copper and get out without it harming them, and I don't understand that."
The most recent death — and the first of 2007 in Kentucky — occurred in late March at a KU substation in eastern Kentucky. That, combined with the five deaths from the year before, has lead KU, its parent Eon and others to attempt to get the word out about copper weld material that is often used now instead of the straight copper. It still transfers the electricity, costs less for the utilities and doesn't fetch nearly as much in scrap prices, Feltham said.
But still the problem persists. "I won't say it happens every week, but it happens a lot," Feltham said. "It's just nutty out there sometimes. They just don't think about what they're getting or the ramifications thereof or any of that kind of stuff or how dangerous it is. That's the most frustrating thing."
The six deaths over the last 17 months might actually be an understatement, according to Public Service Commission spokesman Andrew Melnykovych, who said attempts to hide the crime have caused some bodies to be moved to other areas before medical help is called.
Increased security measures and altered building sequencing, such as not installing plumbing until a house's windows and doors have been installed and capable of locking, have helped cut down on some of the thefts. But according to Melnykovych and the aim of House Bill 82, which amended the 1980 law, it takes vigilance on the part of the dealers of scrap metal to put a stop to the illegal trade.
"The responsible scrap dealers have already been (following the law and reporting sales of scrap copper). And in fact, in the last couple of years, there have been a number of cases cracked because the scrap metal dealer blew the whistle on someone who had clearly brought in stuff that was stolen," Melnykovych said."