Two employees of the Indian Point nuclear power plant in upstate New York have been arrested for stealing nuclear secrets–wait, no, sorry–for stealing several thousand pounds of copper wire from the energy center that provides about 30% of NYC’s electricity and selling it to a local scrap yard for $10,000 – cash!
A less lucrative kind of recycling theft is also on the rise in New York – stealing used cooking oil from restaurants. This week, a 24-year-old man was caught stealing 125.5 gallons of used cooking oil (worth $334) from a storage container behind a Planet Wings in Orangeburg, New York. The oil can be converted into home heating oil and biodiesel fuels – what fleet operators like FedEx and UPS use. With gas prices up, waste companies are selling the yellow grease for 30 to 40 cents per pound (vs. 25 cents per pound in 2010). Not as strong a rise as gold in recent years, but try frying your Super Bowl wings in metal.
