News from June 28, 2007 issue

Local News
The Crittenden Press (3 pages) PDF
(Selected pages 1A, 5A, 4B)
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Dangerous material part of theft probe
Authorities are conducting a large scale theft investigation and preparing for a biohazardous material clean up in the Mexico community because of the alleged taking and stripping of up to nine Kentucky Utilities electrical transformers.
So far, two men have been charged with receiving stolen property in connection with the discovery of the transformers, which may contain hazardous Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs).
James Edward Millikan, 31, of 1808 Ky. 70, is charged with three counts of receiving stolen property which includes transformers, a boat motor and 16-foot utility trailer. Nathan Wade Adams, 40, of Nipper Road, is charged with one count of receiving stolen property in regard to the transformers. Millikan was released from jail on a $500 bond. Adams was still being held Tuesday in the Crittenden County Jail.
Authorities have also recovered other items believed stolen from various other locations around the county, plus they have discovered more than a mile of allegedly stolen utility wire.
Inspectors from the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet's Division of Waste Management, Kentucky State Police, Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department and other local agencies have been involved in the investigation which began June 20.
The utility wire and transformers are believed to have been stolen from old fluorspar mining properties near Frances. A local backhoe operator was doing work at one of the old mine sites last week when he backed into a downed power line. The operator notified KU officials, said Kentucky State Trooper Chris King.
Upon further investigation, it was determined that between seven and nine utility poles had been pirated on property formerly owned by Lafayette and Penwalt or Atofina mines. The land now belongs to private individuals. The poles had been cut with a chainsaw and stripped of their transformers and wire. State Police spokesman Stu Recke said none of the poles carried live wires, and all of them belonged to KU.
Cliff Feltham, a spokesman for KU, said thefts of transformers and other utility items have drastically increased over the past two years as the price for scrap metal and copper has risen. Oddly, Feltham said, most of the wire inside transformers is not the highly-valuable copper being sought by criminals.
“We have had a couple of hundred of these types of thefts over the past 12 months in 77 Kentucky counties,” Feltham said. Some have resulted in deaths by electrocution and other thieves may be unwittingly exposing themselves to dangerous PCB oils inside of transformers.
“The risk is not worth the reward,” Feltham explained. “They are getting less than $100 worth of copper yet risking their lives. It’s stupid. It’s the craziest thing I have run into.”
Police say some of the thefts may be motivated by drugs or the need to get cash to buy drugs.
It’s not clear when the transformers were stolen from the old mining property off Ky. 70, but investigators think it was very recently because a great deal of evidence was still left in the yard where Millikan was living in Mexico.
After receiving a tip about the whereabouts of the transformers, Crittenden County sheriff’s deputies Don Perry and Billy Woolsey went to Millikan’s home last Wednesday. There, they discovered the charred remains of burned transformers and a child playing in the debris. Perry said he made sure the child was bathed and changed into a new set of clothes then removed from the property along with its mother. Millikan was taken into custody and Adams was later arrested based on evidence and interviews by police. Adams was also charged with an unrelated theft of $5 worth of gasoline at Liberty Fuels.
Yellow crime scene tape was placed around the half-acre piece of property where Millikan was living. Investigators have found at that site two transformer shells and at least three internal windings from the transformers. KU environmentalists and state environmental officials have been to the home, but neither could say when cleanup would be done or exactly who would be liable for remediation at the site.
"Typically, we try to find out who is the responsible party and have them clean it up," said Eva Smith-Carroll of the state's Division of Waste Management. "If that's not possible, the state will clean it up."
Smith-Carroll said neighbors do not need to be overly concerned about potential hazards because “it’s not something that will reach out and bite you.” She said the best thing to do is stay away from the site.
If anyone believes they has been exposed, Smith-Carroll said they should discard their clothing, bathe and then contact a physician.
The KU spokesman agreed. He said that neighbors should avoid the scene and "just leave it alone" until all of the potentially hazardous material has been removed.
Neighbors with concerns may call the environmental protection office at 824-7532 or KU’s environmental contractor at (502) 627-2911.
Sheriff Wayne Agent said the transformers recovered at Millikan’s house had apparently been stripped from the poles that were cut down at the mining property less than two miles down the road from the Millikan home. KU crews removed other downed transformers from the old mining property last week and completed an environmental cleanup there.
Agent said the transformers at the home had been shot with a gun to allow the potentially hazardous oil to drain out of the metal shells. Then, they were cut open with some type of device, probably a torch, and the metal core was removed. The windings were then apparently put into a fire built next to the home to remove plastic coatings on wires and the hazardous oils that keep the transformers cool and insulated. A cabinet had been placed between the fire and the road so that passersby on Ky. 70 could not see what was being burned. The fire site and home are about 45 yards off of the highway. A child’s tricycle and other toys were within 10 feet of the charred remains on the burn pile.
Agent said that several other items at the residence, including four or five ATVs, are being checked to determine if they had been reported stolen. Three ATVs near the fire site had been stripped of most of their parts.
Perry, the sheriff’s deputy, said he thinks several area burglaries are going to be solved once all of the items discovered at the home are checked out thoroughly. Other charges are possible, he said.