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Article published Mar 5, 2008 Breaking News: Copper thieves strike Overlook development
By Iva Butler of The Daily Times Staff
Copper thieves struck the underground electrical system at The Overlook at Montvale, doing at least $150,000 in damage to the residential development on Chilhowee Mountain.
The damage, which apparently happened overnight Tuesday, was discovered at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday by a construction crew of Fort Loudoun Electric Cooperative.
No houses have yet been constructed in the 24-lot first phase of the mountain development, located off Happy Valley Road in Tallassee. Utilities and landscaping work are still being completed.
At least one of the thieves may have been burned during the theft when a lightning arrestor blew up in a 7,200-volt underground transformer.
“There is evidence they got into some hot stuff,” said Fort Loudoun General Manager Bob Long. “People don’t value their lives.”
“There were some fireworks,” said Mike Atkins, who does subdivision electrical design work for Fort Loudoun Electric.
A “Danger -- High Voltage” sign inside the transformer was partially blackened when the arrestor blew.
Developers of the subdivision paid Fort Loudoun Electric to install underground utilities at a cost of $300,000, Long said.
The copper thieves cut off the padlocks at The Overlook and took copper out of 27 of the 35 underground transformers, Atkins said.
“All the underground wire will have to be replaced,” he said. “It will cost at least $150,000. The copper the thieves got was only worth a couple of thousand dollars.”
The cost could go as high as $200,000 for the repairs, which will take about a month to complete.
It is thought that the thieves used four-wheelers and a small truck to commit the crime.
Both Long and Atkins stressed how dangerous the thefts were to the individuals involved.
Atkins said he would not touch the wires even if he knew the electricity was off to the transformers because there would still be some electricity stored in the wires, about the same charge one would get from touching an electric fence.
“The electric co-ops and the municipals (city electric departments) petitioned the legislature to require scrap buyers to keep better records. If they do that, we can cut down on a lot of these thefts. To make money, there has to be a market somewhere,” Long said.
“Thefts like this cause all our electric rates to go up, just like shoplifting,” Atkins said. Long said the cooperative has insurance, but there is still a deductible.
Atkins said, “Blount County Sheriff’s Office worked diligently” Wednesday trying to find evidence that would lead to the thieves.
Anyone with information can call the Blount County Sheriff’s Office crime hot line at 273-5200.
We'll have more details as they become available or in Thursday's edition of The Daily Times.