By RAY WYCHE
Staff writer

The high price of scrap copper has led to a number of changes in the way some businesses operate.

Home builders no longer leave copper electrical wiring or copper plumbing pipe on the job site overnight, and in some places contractors are considering hiring guards at their job locations at night in hopes of deterring increasing thefts of copper building materials.

Reputable scrap metal dealers are demanding foolproof identification from copper sellers. Building owners are keeping a closer watch on their property where exposed copper pipes and wiring is not in locked areas or otherwise secured.

The recent rise in scrap copper prices is blamed for the increased number of thefts nationwide. Several states, including North Carolina, have new laws or pending legislation to toughen penalties for those convicted of taking copper from a building.

Columbus County is not exempt from the thefts.

Sara Thompson of Whiteville says the copper lines from the propane tank in her backyard were cut and removed.

“It was probably worth about $2,” her husband, John, familiar with the building business, says.

“We have been noticing a good number of these (copper thefts) this year,” Capt. David Nobles of the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office says. “For about a year, thefts have been up.”

Air conditioning units at churches, particularly those located in isolated areas, are favorite targets of the copper rustlers.

One church in the county found its air conditioner vandalized and the copper removed. The unit was replaced and a short time later, it also lost its copper to thieves.

Reputable scrap metal dealers aren’t waiting for tougher laws to stop the thefts. Many buyers now require more traceable identification before paying the “pickers.”

Lee Thompson of Metal Recycling Services (MRS) at New Hope, a large scale buyer of scrap metal, says he has probably driven away some sellers who balk when he tells them his procedure for buying scrap copper.

“What we do if anybody brings in copper, we give them a check and make a copy of their drivers license and the check on the same sheet of paper. Our copper buying has slowed down.

“If everybody did what we do, it would cut it down,” Thompson says of the thefts.

Some thieves have steered clear of MRS because of the firm’s more stringent method of identifying stolen copper.

MRS is paying $2.50 per pound for No. 1 copper, that which is free of solder or other materials, and $2.30 for No. 2.

“We pay 25 cents less for one or two pounds,” Thompson said, as the labor costs are about the same from small amounts as for large quantities.