On Feb. 17, a bill that would have beefed up record-keeping requirements for scrap metal dealers and added civil penalties for trading in stolen copper died in the state Senate when it failed to make a legislative deadline.
Three days later, Sound Transit light rail service again was disrupted by copper wire thieves.
That Washington has a problem with copper theft is without doubt. Lawmakers whiffed at the chance to do something about it this year. In a perfect world, this badly needed, commonsense bill wouldn’t fall through the cracks in Olympia.
Senate Bill 6190 was sponsored by a bipartisan group of senators and, after negotiations and compromises between law enforcement and industry advocates, had achieved broad consensus.
Importantly, it would have required scrap metal dealers to upload photographs of copper and other metal purchases to an existing database where they could be viewed by investigators.
“Currently, all the different recyclers keep records on site and law enforcement doesn’t know where stolen wire is being sold and they don’t have the resources to go out to every single recycler and look at all their purchase records,” said King County Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Gary Ernsdorff. “By putting it online, it would make the investigations go very, very simply.”
“We need the recycling business,” he added. “We’re really just aiming at a fraction of the licensed recyclers out there. If we can clean them up, this problem’s going to go away.”
Oddly, the telecommunications industry is heavily impacted, even though it doesn’t use a lot of copper wire. Thieves inadvertently cut fiber-optic cable when they think it might contain copper, which can be traded in for cash at unscrupulous dealers. The fiber-optic cable is essentially worthless and often left by the side of the road. But the expense for telecommunication companies runs into the tens of millions of dollars, said Ernsdorff.
For the time being, businesses and governments will have to wait.
Sound Transit has suffered several service outages due to copper theft, including the day of the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl parade.
As reported by Times reporter Mike Lindblom, roads have also been targets, including the West Seattle Bridge, where streetlights were out for a few weeks in September, and at least 30 incidents on Washington state freeways in early 2025.
Copper prices have soared in recent months to near $6 a pound in global markets, and around $4 locally for high-quality wire.
Ernsdorff said he is set to meet with Sound Transit officials in the next few days.
For a crime that’s almost impossible to catch in the act, smarter regulations and consequences are needed. Thanks to legislative inaction, that will have to wait for another year. Something to think about if your phone goes dead or you’re waiting forever for a train.
