by Anthony L. Kimery
Thursday, 04 December 2008
Thefts increasingly disrupting many important infrastructure systems
?Copper thieves are threatening US critical infrastructure by targeting electrical sub-stations, cellular towers, telephone land lines, railroads, water wells, construction sites, and vacant homes for lucrative profits,? the FBI?s intelligence assessment stated. ?The theft of copper from these targets disrupts the flow of electricity, telecommunications, transportation, water supply, heating, and security and emergency services and presents a risk to both public safety and national security.?
The intelligence advisory noted that in April, five tornado warning sirens in the Jackson, Mississippi area did not warn residents of an approaching tornado because copper thieves had stripped the sirens of copper wiring, rendering them inoperable.
The month before, in Polk County, Florida, nearly 4,000 residents were left without power after half-a-million in copper wire was stripped from an active transformer at a Tampa Electric Company power facility.
From 2006 to 2007, AT&T reported that thefts of copper bus bars, grounding wires or cable from cell sites in North Texas rose more than 200 percent. Nationwide, AT&T said copper theft had cost the company nearly $6.7 million in 2007.
?Every outage caused by copper theft has left customers and communities isolated and possibly vulnerable in an emergency,? spokesman Dave Pacholczyk said at the time.
From January 2007 through July 2007, an organized copper theft ring busted by the FBI made off with nearly $500,000 worth of copper grounding bars and wiring from more than 130 cell phone tower sites in 17 different jurisdictions in the Eastern District of Virginia and eastern North Carolina.
A few weeks ago, about 3,000 Windstream Communications phone and broadband customers in Washington County, Pennsylvania were left without service for a day after thieves cut lines and fiber optic cables to steal copper wiring.
Earlier in November in Goshen and Montgomery, New York, power was cut off to hundreds after thieves stole copper wire from electric utility poles.
In Rancho San Diego, an area of unincorporated San Diego County, California, electricity recently was knocked out when thieves cut down and made off with copper power lines.
Between October 2007 and March 2008, $90,000 worth of copper was stolen from 11 power substations in northwestern Montana belonging to the Bonneville Power Administration and Flathead Electric Cooperative.
In Greenville, South Carolina in July 2006, a man was electrocuted trying to steal copper from a Duke Energy substation.
More disturbingly, late last year thieves cut out a 300 foot section of copper wire from a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control tower in Ohio, threatening communications between pilots and air traffic controllers.
Copper theft increased more than 1,000 percent from 2005 to 2006. A study by the Department of Energy found that in 2007, copper theft cost the electric power industry about $1 billion ? and is growing. From January 2006 to March 2007, electric utility companies in 42 states reported 270 copper thefts.
The problem isn?t likely to abate anytime soon, especially with some analysts predicting that the price of copper will hover around $3 a pound through 2012
Full article: http://www.hstoday.us/content/view/6307/149/
Thursday, 04 December 2008
Thefts increasingly disrupting many important infrastructure systems
?Copper thieves are threatening US critical infrastructure by targeting electrical sub-stations, cellular towers, telephone land lines, railroads, water wells, construction sites, and vacant homes for lucrative profits,? the FBI?s intelligence assessment stated. ?The theft of copper from these targets disrupts the flow of electricity, telecommunications, transportation, water supply, heating, and security and emergency services and presents a risk to both public safety and national security.?
The intelligence advisory noted that in April, five tornado warning sirens in the Jackson, Mississippi area did not warn residents of an approaching tornado because copper thieves had stripped the sirens of copper wiring, rendering them inoperable.
The month before, in Polk County, Florida, nearly 4,000 residents were left without power after half-a-million in copper wire was stripped from an active transformer at a Tampa Electric Company power facility.
From 2006 to 2007, AT&T reported that thefts of copper bus bars, grounding wires or cable from cell sites in North Texas rose more than 200 percent. Nationwide, AT&T said copper theft had cost the company nearly $6.7 million in 2007.
?Every outage caused by copper theft has left customers and communities isolated and possibly vulnerable in an emergency,? spokesman Dave Pacholczyk said at the time.
From January 2007 through July 2007, an organized copper theft ring busted by the FBI made off with nearly $500,000 worth of copper grounding bars and wiring from more than 130 cell phone tower sites in 17 different jurisdictions in the Eastern District of Virginia and eastern North Carolina.
A few weeks ago, about 3,000 Windstream Communications phone and broadband customers in Washington County, Pennsylvania were left without service for a day after thieves cut lines and fiber optic cables to steal copper wiring.
Earlier in November in Goshen and Montgomery, New York, power was cut off to hundreds after thieves stole copper wire from electric utility poles.
In Rancho San Diego, an area of unincorporated San Diego County, California, electricity recently was knocked out when thieves cut down and made off with copper power lines.
Between October 2007 and March 2008, $90,000 worth of copper was stolen from 11 power substations in northwestern Montana belonging to the Bonneville Power Administration and Flathead Electric Cooperative.
In Greenville, South Carolina in July 2006, a man was electrocuted trying to steal copper from a Duke Energy substation.
More disturbingly, late last year thieves cut out a 300 foot section of copper wire from a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control tower in Ohio, threatening communications between pilots and air traffic controllers.
Copper theft increased more than 1,000 percent from 2005 to 2006. A study by the Department of Energy found that in 2007, copper theft cost the electric power industry about $1 billion ? and is growing. From January 2006 to March 2007, electric utility companies in 42 states reported 270 copper thefts.
The problem isn?t likely to abate anytime soon, especially with some analysts predicting that the price of copper will hover around $3 a pound through 2012
Full article: http://www.hstoday.us/content/view/6307/149/
"Thieves tend to be a little lazy.
):yinyang: