CANADA & US CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE STOLEN EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS RECOGNITION GUIDE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS This Guide was produced by the Provincial Electricity Physical Security (PEPS) coalition of Alberta. PEPS is a team of men and women from the electricity, oil & gas, telecommunications, and water industries, the National Energy Security Professionals (NESP) group, trade associations, recyclers, law enforcement, and governments at the federal, provincial, and municipal level. The PEPS coalition promotes public safety, the resilience of critical infrastructure, and crime prevention. 2017 EDITION
TABLE OF CONTENTS Item Sector Page Grounding straps Electricity 4 Grounding straps and fittings Electricity 5 Electrical cable Electricity 6 Electrical cable stripped or burned Electricity 7 Electricity Sector Specialized Tools Electricity 8 Tools Used by Thieves in the Electricity Sector Electricity 9 Climbing Gear Electricity 10 Welding cables All Sectors 11 Cell tower batteries Telecommunications cables Telecommunications Telecommunications 12-13 14 Grounding cables, copper cable, solar panels Oil & Gas 15 Batteries Oil & Gas 16 Stolen batteries stripped for lead, drill bits Oil & Gas 17 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Item Sector Page Dri-Flo meters, valves Oil & Gas 18 Fire extinguishers, H2S monitors, methanol tanks Oil & Gas 19 Tubulars Oil & Gas 20 Sight glasses Oil & Gas 21 Water Hydrants and Meters Water 22 24 Electricity Safety Training for First Responders Electricity 25 Metal Theft Affects You (Video) Electricity 26 3
ELECTRICITY SECTOR GROUNDING STRAPS Found in substations, switchyards, service centers, and on power poles or pylons, grounding straps are used to ground fences and equipment. Stealing these grounds exposes the thieves, electrical workers, and bystanders to the risk of electrocution as the equipment becomes unstable. It may appear as bright and shiny or dull and tarnished. It is often cut into short pieces for ease of removal. It looks like multi-strand copper wire and / or copper fittings. They are about as thick as a finger, and are not insulated. They are attached to metal equipment and fences using copper fittings. They are the most commonly-stolen item in the electricity sector because they are easier to access and they are not energized. Finding this material with a member of the public should prompt further questions to determine if he or she is in legal possession. For example, a certified electrician will often have this material. 4
ELECTRICITY SECTOR GROUNDING STRAPS AND FITTINGS Bulk copper like this is most often found at construction sites where a lot of electrical work is being done. 5
ELECTRICITY SECTOR ELECTRICAL CABLE This cable should not normally be found in personal vehicles. It is only used by companies that have company names and logos on the sides of their vehicles such as utility companies, or electrical contractors. MCM 1000 typically found in substations This type of cable is very expensive, and may be over 5 cm in diameter. Theft of this type of cable will likely come from a construction site, and because it is often manufactured upon order, a theft can cause several weeks of construction delays, potentially costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. 6
ELECTRICITY SECTOR ELECTRICAL CABLE STRIPPED OR BURNED Stripped cable insulation Thieves will often strip the plastic insulation off of the cable as it will get a higher price at the recycler. This can be done by cutting it off, as in the photo above, or by burning. Burning has the added benefit of removing identifying information. 7
ELECTRICITY SECTOR SPECIALIZED TOOLS The electricity sector uses a number of highly-specialized tools. They are expensive, and have no application outside of the industry. They should only be found in the possession of a person who works in the sector, in company-marked vehicles. Below are a few of these tools. LineStar Penta Head Wrench Photo provided by Colin Saunders of Enmax Klein 5-in-1 Lineman s Wrench Klein Lineman s Wrench 8
ELECTRICITY SECTOR TOOLS USED BY THIEVES IN THE ELECTRICITY SECTOR The most commonly-seen and easiest to purchase are bolt cutters. They are widelyavailable, and inexpensive. They are used for cutting wire, cable, and locks. Thieves will also steal and use (or sell) climbing and cutting equipment. Other types of cutting equipment used in the sector include battery operated, ratchet, and hydraulic. Bolt cutters Battery-operated cable cutters Battery-operated grinder Ratchet cutters 9
ELECTRICITY SECTOR CLIMBING GEAR A popular brand for electricity-sector climbing equipment is Buckingham, followed by Bashlin. 10
ALL SECTORS WELDING CABLE 11
TELECOMMUNICATIONS CELL TOWER BATTERIES 12
TELECOMMUNICATIONS CELL TOWER BATTERIES Stolen batteries stripped for the lead cores 13
TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELECOMMUNICATIONS CABLES 14
OIL & GAS EQUIPMENT With well over a million active oil and gas wells in North America, and often in remote areas, this sector has always been an easy target for thieves. Stolen items include trucks, all-terrain vehicles, trailers, copper grounding cables, insulated copper wire, solar panels, batteries, drill bits, Dri-Flo meters, valves, fire extinguishers, H2S monitors, methanol tanks, and tubulars. Grounding cables Solar panels Copper cable (insulated sometimes the insulation is burned off Many thanks to Peter Vanderwater of Repsol and Roger Monette of Conoco-Phillips for the photographs and information in this section 15
OIL & GAS BATTERIES 16
OIL & GAS MISCELLANEOUS Stolen batteries stripped for the lead cores Drill bits 17
OIL & GAS MISCELLANEOUS Dri-Flo Meters Valves 18
OIL & GAS MISCELLANEOUS Fire Extinguishers Multi-Gas Detector Methanol Tanks 19
OIL & GAS TUBULARS 20
OIL & GAS SIGHT GLASSES 21
WATER HYDRANTS AND METERS Water hydrants, also known as fire hydrants or fire plugs, and water meters are critical components of water distribution infrastructure in Alberta and throughout Canada, and are designed to facilitate quick, safe access, and accounting for high volume water flow systems which service authorized consumers, including Fire/Rescue Services personnel. Water hydrant casings are made of cast iron, and some hydrant internal components are made of copper/bronze/brass alloys; they are often targets for thieves who seek to sell them for their scrap metal value (up to $6.60/ kg for copper/bronze/brass, and up to $215.00/metric tonne for cast iron). Hydrants Water meters 22
WATER WATER METERS A typical domestic water meter Cutaway view of a generic hydrant Light commercial water meter Water hydrant meter and fittings 23
WATER CASINGS Heavy commercial or light industrial water meter casing Heavy industrial water meter casing 24
SAFETY TRAINING ELECTRICITY SAFETY TRAINING FOR FIRST RESPONDERS Electricity: The Invisible Killer - Emergency First Responders https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ippevp4hrmg This Canadian Electricity Association video provides information for First Responders on how to avoid electrocution at an emergency scene involving power lines or electrical equipment. It deals with a phenomenon called step and touch potential, which is the tendency for electricity to flow through a conductor to ground via the easiest path. In certain circumstances, people may become that conductor, placing them in extreme danger. 25
METAL THEFT HYDRO ONE VIDEO Ontario s Hydro One has created a video on metal theft called Metal Theft Affects You. It is available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/fynyjxg0mmq 26