B.C.’s tougher new laws for scrap metal dealers went into effect on Monday, but one Maple Ridge dealer doesn’t think they will do anything to curb scrap metal theft.
The scrap metal law is the first provincial law of its kind in the country, and is designed to limit the resale market for stolen metal and help identify thieves.
Under the new law, scrap dealers must require valid ID from sellers, share purchase details with police, and can no longer pay cash for scrap for amounts above $50, and must now pay by cheque instead.
Purchasers who fail to register with the province and fulfill record-keeping and sharing requirements risk fines of up to $100,000.
“We heard the call for a new law to crack down on metal theft and we responded,” B.C. Justice Minister Shirley Bond said Monday. “We have the first provincial law in the country that will remove anonymity and provide police with the kind of information they need to catch metal thieves.”
Not everyone in the industry is convinced, however.
Mike Salo owns the Fraser Valley Metal Exchange in the Albion industrial area of Maple Ridge and has worked in the scrap metal business for close to 35 years.
In the past 10 years, he has seen stolen scrap metal flood the market, and doesn’t believe the new regulations will stop metal thieves.
“The problem isn’t with the scrap dealers,” he said. “The problem is with the justice system, and it’s a drug problem, and a welfare problem.”
Most metal thieves burn off the casings to the copper wire they steal, making it difficult to prove in court the wire was stolen. Thieves that are successfully prosecuted, are usually given a slap on the wrist, according to Salo.
“These people are drug addicts. They are incapable of working, so they steal,” he said. “They know they can get away with it too.”
The new provincial regulations will only serve to push the scrap metal trade underground, and hurt legitimate operators like himself. Salo said unlicensed dealers operating out of warehouses are the ones buying up stolen metal from thieves, no questions asked, only to send the metal overseas in shipping containers where it can’t be traced.
“I’ve been around long enough to know what’s going on,” he said.
Salo said he hasn’t allowed foot or bicycle traffic into his yard for the past 10 years to keep out the metal thieves, and has always cooperated with RCMP and the District of Maple Ridge’s own scrap metal bylaw.
That bylaw, passed by Maple Ridge council last November, requires dealers to record the ID of those who bring in scrap metal, hold on to goods for a week before reselling them, and to notify police daily of metal purchased,
However, under the new provincial regulations, police are only allowed to get the personal information from the dealer through a warrant.
“If I follow the bylaw, then I’m breaking the provincial law,” said Salo. “If I follow the provincial law, then I’m breaking the bylaw.”
In May, the government wrote to municipalities that have metal-theft-related bylaws, asking them to ensure their rules do not conflict with the new provincial ones. This followed consultation conducted in part to ensure the local and provincial approaches would work together.
The District of Maple Ridge bylaws department could not be reached for comment.
Ridge Meadows RCMP has been working with the District of Maple Ridge to make sure local recyclers are complying with the bylaw and the new provincial rules.
Insp. Dave Fluegel said businesses that don’t report their transactions to police daily could ultimately have their business license revoked.
“We’ve had some challenges getting compliance with one of them on a consistent basis,” he said. “But we have a strategy and we are working on a more robust strategy in consultation with bylaws.”
The cost of metal thefts
Metal thefts in B.C. cost millions, and endanger lives.
Metal thefts frequently endanger public safety, most notably by disrupting phone lines and access to 911 emergency service.
In 2010, 911 emergency service was cut off to more than 500 residents in east Maple Ridge after thieves stole copper telephone lines along 272nd Street.
Earlier that year, three commemorative bronze plaques on the Pitt River Bridge, weighing more than 600 pounds combined, were stolen and later turned up at a scrap metal dealer, cut into more than 30 pieces. In September 2010, more than $13,000 of copper wiring was stripped from a closed down sawmill on River Road.
In May of last year, metal thieves attempted to make off with a 1.5-square-metre steel floodgate that protects the City of Pitt Meadows from rising tides.
With roughly 200 incidents in the Lower Mainland annually, scrap metal theft costs Telus in the range of $10 million every year. The typical copper telephone line theft costs the company an average of $50,000 per incident, and nets thieves just a couple hundred dollars.
– with files