Our country is coming apart at the seams - literally. With the dismal economy, thieves are stealing the bridges from people’s mouths, and from across rivers. A pair of thieves, in search of loot from scrap metal, dismantled a 40 foot bridge in New Castle, Pennsylvania and sold it piecemeal to a scrap metal dealer. The $100,000 bridge brought the thieves a little under $6,000.
In this foreclosure market, banks are boarding up homes to keep thieves from stealing the copper pipes. Commercial air conditioners are being stripped of copper. According to the BBC, in Maryland, a sculptor lost an outside display of seven bronzes to metal thieves. Power lines and telephone lines have been stolen.
Very old pennies are worth more than one cent because of the copper content. Car catalytic converters are being stolen for the precious metal inside.
Why has this been happening? Apparently, scrap metal prices are so high because China is on a building binge while we are on a demolition binge.
Unfortunately, China’s demand has created a worldwide criminal problem. In Canada, in 2006, thieves stole copper roofing, gutters and wiring from four Quebec churches. In Czechoslovakia, thieves stole bronze markers from a concentration camp. In Ukraine, someone stole a locomotive from a museum. In Australia, thieves stole railroad tracks. Imagine if someone stole the tracks from the PATH line?
It’s happening in New Jersey too. It happened last month in Lawrence. Drainage grates are disappearing from the streets and parking lots in Clifton. Bronze plaques were stolen from war memorials.
According to the police, it’s the fault of methamphetamine addicts, but I don’t buy it. The only thing they have in common is that meth and metal both begin with the letter “M” But, it’s too widespread a phenomenon to just blame on drug addicts. In 1994, a New Jersey scrap metal dealer was arrested for stealing and dismantling eleven New York City garbage trucks. He wasn’t a meth addict. In a bad economy, all sorts of people come up with creative way to make a buck.
Until police come up with a solution, you may have to chain your metal objects down. But don’t use a metal chain or they might steal that too.
Marvin Wolf is a regular contributor to Local Talk.
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