Money down the drain as metal thieves hit
47 cast- iron grates have been stolen in the past four days
The latest hot item for scrapmetal thieves: cast- iron catch basin grates that allow the rain water to run off city streets.
In the last four days, 47 have been stolen.
That’s money down the drain for the city, which says the thieves may have a mistaken belief the grates are worth a lot of money as scrap metal.
The grates would only fetch between $ 10 and $ 20 as scrap metal. However, the city’s replacement for each grate is $ 176, plus the labour of a city crew to respond to each theft.
But even worse than the cost is the danger — the city worries that people and even small pets could fall into the gaping holes, some as deep as 1.8 metres ( six feet) when a grate is stolen.
“The safety issue is our foremost concern,” Murray Steer, Vancouver’s manager of sewer operations, said Thursday.
Some of the holes catching run- off rainwater are 1.8 metres ( six feet) deep, which could cause severe injury if a pedestrian falls in, especially at night — when it is believed most of the thefts occur.
During heavy rains, a small pet could be drowned by the flow of the water beneath the street. The water drains into a concrete barrel, then flows to local bodies of water such as False Creek, Burrard Inlet and the Fraser River.
Steer said more than 10 grates a day are disappearing, from all over the city.
“This started on Sunday and it’s not slowing down,” he said.
“They are all over the map,” he said. “It’s across the city, predominantly south of 33rd. It seems very random.”
In the past, only a handful of grates would go missing each year, usually around grad time when kids would remove the grates and throw them in nearby bushes.
“They weigh about 100 pounds. They are large, cumbersome.”
The city believes the thieves would need a vehicle to transport the grates.
“We found seven missing in one location,” he said. “The majority have gone missing at the end of lanes.”
Steer said the value of the grates is at odds with the considerable efforts to steal them.
Vancouver police are investigating the rash of thefts, the city says, and residents are asked to call 911 if they see thieves stealing grates.
Missing catch basin grates should be reported by calling 311 ( 604- 8737000).
New York City has had a rash of manhole cover thefts recently, with about 30 going missing a month, leaving dangerous holes on sidewalks and city streets for pedestrians and motorists.
New York’s manhole covers each weigh about 300 pounds ( 136 kg).