From Jen Koester, an insider at Lease Advisors
Currently, copper is worth about $3.50 per pound, making it a valuable item within the recycling market. Cell tower theft first proved to be a problem in the summer of 2011 when thousands of dollars in copper was stolen from a handful of towers in Iowa, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Earlier this month, thieves stole several hundred feet of copper wire from a Pierce County, Washington cell tower. “[The wire] is quite valuable on the recycling market, as all metals tend to be right now,” says Milton Police Chief Mark Langford. After authorities evaluated the crime, police determined that the copper was stripped from the tower underground just 300 ft. away, leading authorities to think it may have been an inside job. Police estimate the worth of the stolen copper at several thousand dollars and predict that it will likely be resold at a recycling facility.
Towers can also be damaged during these thefts, as such the replacement cost of the missing wire is not the only concern. In one extreme case, copper grounding plates stolen from a Canadian tower in 2012 made the structure vulnerable to lightning strikes. As a result, the tower was hit by lightning causing $25,000 dollars of damage, a much more costly consequence than the cost of replacing the stolen copper valued at about $50. Sadly, theft is now a serious concern for both cellular companies and leaseholders. In order to avoid copper theft, some cell sites are being safeguarded using a technique called “crimping”. Although crimping the copper wires about every foot may not be the best looking, it does make it nearly impossible to pull the wires out. Additionally, security cameras have assisted police in both preventing copper wire theft before it happens and catching the criminals responsible when it does.
Reader Interactions