Verizon: WV Cable Thefts a Public Safety Threat
By Ed Oswald, BetaNews
February 6, 2007, 1:26 PM
While cable thefts and vandalism are a problem for telecommunications companies nationwide, Verizon said Tuesday the problem is especially bad in West Virginia, where over 17,000 customers have experienced service interruptions as a result of the issue.
Across the state, 45 occurrences of either vandalism or theft have occurred. In one recent case, a 20-foot section of cable was stolen and caused both fire and police departments to lose telephone service, posing a threat to public safety.
"These thefts are just incomprehensible in that they put people's lives in danger and cost thousands of dollars to repair," Verizon president H. Stan Cavendish said.
A majority of the incidents have occurred in the southern part of the state, including Boone, Logan and Kanawha Counties. However, Verizon said it had experienced issues of theft in both Washington state and California as well.
"They have been infrequent in most states, but for some reason in West Virginia, the incidents have been occurring more frequently over the last several years," Verizon spokesperson Lee Gierczynski told BetaNews.
In 2006 alone, 26,000 feet of cable was stolen, costing the company $240,000 in repairs. In one case, a theft even delayed a planned service upgrade in the town of Barboursville as the cable was stolen the day before it was to be installed.
One possible solution may be new regulation surrounding salvage yards and recyclers. If proposed legislation now in the West Virginia legislature passes, more information would be required from scrap sellers, and police would gain the right to confiscate metal if they believe it had been stolen.
In the meantime, Verizon has asked those with information to contact the company or the authorities.
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