Local & State Headlines

Cover thefts proving costly

• City officials estimate the cost of replacing stolen manhole covers at about $100 per lid.

J.D. Sumner

ALBANY — There’s a chance if you’re driving down a street in the Good Life City and hear a thud, it’s the sound of metal thieves cashing in.

City officials say the metal-for-cash phenomenon reached a new low after city workers began discovering that huge, iron caps to the city’s underground sewer infrastructure have gone missing over the last 30 days.

Police officials say that at least 14 of the manhole covers and storm drainage catch basin lids in the Mock Road and Clark Avenue area have been taken.

The 60-pound, cast-iron lids are a boon to metal thieves looking to make a quick buck, but have cost the city upwards of $1,400 to replace, Albany Police Department spokesperson Phyllis Banks said.

But more than the cost associated with replacing the lids, city officials are concerned that the safety risk of the cover-barren manholes could lead to motorists and pedestrians in the area getting hurt.

While a rising tide of copper-wiring thefts have made headlines in recent months as thieves cash in on high metal prices, robbers recently have begun varying their tastes to include aluminum and other scrap metals.

In neighboring Lee County, Gil Pace, a farmer who recently had more than 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel stolen from his farm, has said that he and his fellow farmers are going hi-tech by installing infrared camera systems to prevent metal thieves from sneaking into their fields and stripping irrigation systems and machinery of valuable metal.

Recently, according to incident reports from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, James Giese Usry told deputies that he noticed someone had tampered with irrigation equipment on his farm off Highway 377.

After taking a closer look, Usry and Deputy Thomas Draper found that about 1,500 feet of insulated wiring had been removed from at least 10 towers on the unit, the report says. The value of the wire was listed at $10,000.

The city of Albany has made strides to try and combat copper wire thefts but, so far, the thefts continue.

Banks said that the police department is asking residents throughout the city to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activity, especially anyone removing the covers.

“Public Works employees are required to wear reflective safety vests and will be driving marked vehicles,” Banks said. “Any suspicious activity ... should be reported to the Albany Police Department.”

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