Proposed bill seeks to curb copper wire theft in St. Paul
A proposed state bill aiming to curb copper wire theft would require any person selling copper metal to have a state-issued license.
Rep. Athena Hollins, DFL-St. Paul said thieves steal copper wire from streetlights, which causes dark neighborhoods. She also said that leads to safety issues, like when St. Paul resident Steve Wirtz and his dog were fatally hit by a truck while walking across the street.
“It’s time for us to stand together and say enough is enough,” Hollins said. “We must hold accountable those who seek to profit from others’ lack of safety. It is incumbent upon all of us to use our power to prevent further tragedy.”
The bill also states those who are licensed to perform electrical work are eligible to hold a license.
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“The thieves who have been gutting our public utilities will be locked out of the market where they earn most of their money,” said Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul. “We’ve seen our law enforcement and neighborhoods stepping up to curb this crime, and it’s time for action at the Capitol as well.”
Pappas said the Senate Commerce Committee will hear the bill on Tuesday.
More than 2,000 streetlights in St. Paul are out because of copper wire theft, and the city spent about $1.1 million to have gutted lamps rewired. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter said staff cannot keep up with repairs with the high rate of copper wire theft from public infrastructure.
Carter said that the death of Wirtz and his dog because of the dark intersection should serve as a reminder about consequences of copper wire theft within the public safety framework of St. Paul.
“We’re going to identify the cycles, we’re going to identify all the interventions we can create to eliminate and reduce the likelihood that something terrible has happened in the first place,” Carter said. “That’s why this is something that’s so critical for us.”
Copper wire theft is also a concern in other communities. West St. Paul Mayor Dan Napier said that they’ve seen businesses broken into and whole buildings being stripped of copper.
“It’s extremely expensive,” Napier said. “It’s considered major damage to a building. And so it may cause a building to maybe not get rebuilt. Maybe just demolished instead, so it is impactful.”
Residents and businesses would still be able to recycle copper with scrap metal companies for free. The legislation builds off of the catalytic converter laws that were passed last year.
St. Paul Police Chief Axel Henry said it was important to curb copper wire theft beyond making it more difficult to get the wire.
“A real comprehensive solution has to include a piece that says, ‘What if you get access to it?’” Henry said. “This bill will help us achieve that in the sense that it does. It affects the entire chain backwards and that if you get access to that, we make it monetarily worthless to you unless you have a legitimate reason to have it.”