Absent a tougher law governing the scrap business, local law enforcement has stepped up enforcement of existing regulations. In late June and early July, sheriff’s deputies teamed up with other local police agencies, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and county and state offices of weights and measures for a series of enforcement actions at local scrapyards. Police checkpoints near the yards netted six arrests for stolen property and other crimes. DEC officials issued three citations for violations of state environmental laws at local scrapyards. And cops handed out 119 vehicle and traffic tickets for a range of violations to scrappers entering the yards.
Beat cops have also been advised to pay particular attention to trucks and trailers hauling scrap metal on Ulster County roads. Earlier this month, sheriff’s deputies on routine patrol stopped an Amsterdam, N.Y., man for hauling an unsecured load near a Kingston scrapyard and turned up a trove of allegedly stolen metal including 50 state Thruway mile markers and a number of street signs.
“There are guys out there who, for them, it’s a job,” said Markiewicz. “They just drive around all day looking for something to steal as the opportunity presents itself.”
