05/10/2008
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Morning Sentinel staff photo
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Morning Sentinel staff photofrom the Kennebec Journal
ATTACK SURVIVORS BATTLE ON
Assessment scores reveal mixed results
Baldacci's weapon to fight energy crisis: 'Yankee ingenuity'
RANDOLPH Officials differ on expenses
Woman's body found in river
Richmond chef is top lobster cook
Hunt resigns as Cony boys basketball coach
O'Brien on 'big stage'
All of today's:
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from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
FAIRFIELD State closes store Jim's Variety loses seller's certificate over sales tax issue
WATERVILLE Searchers find body
'Our lives will never be the same again'
State school officials encouraged by test results
Colby gives library $75K Gift will go toward renovation effort
RAIN DELAY HALTS DRAWDOWN
HERSOM, HUSSEY FACE A CROWD
Teams ready to go
All of today's:
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from the Morning Sentinel
It was a long wait, but drivers were in high spirits as they prepared to trade tons of junk for pocketfuls of cash.
"I've had that sitting out there for 20 years," Cliff Taylor II, of Freeman, said, gesturing to the battered 1977 Dodge pickup truck he was hauling on a trailer. "The price was right. And a tree fell on it this winter."
Taylor was one of nearly 1,000 people expected to drop off a load of scrap at that site by the day's end at Smorgon's various facilities in Oakland, Augusta, Bangor and Arundel. Thousands more statewide are scouring their barns, backyards and the countryside to find metal to sell as prices skyrocket, according to Smorgon Recycling Vice President Peter McAvoy.
"Not that long ago, we were paying $75, $85 a ton for junk cars," he said in an interview around 10:30 a.m. Friday. "Now we are paying -- it's gone up so fast, I can't even remember it, I have to keep a cheat sheet here -- $235 a ton."
By 4 p.m. that day, the price had passed $245 and was heading to $250. A combination of factors are driving up the price of steel.
One of the biggest demands comes from developing countries, especially in the Far East, which need metal to construct buildings and automobiles, McAvoy said. Smorgan ships steel by road and by rail all across the continent and also ships it overseas out of Boston and New York.
Smorgan is paying "multiple millions per month" in this rush on metal, McAvoy said, although he declined to disclose exact figures. Difficult economic times have pushed people to the limits of their budgets, and so they are seizing the opportunity to get some easy cash.
"If somebody's got a bunch of stuff in a pile in their barn and they bring it in on a truck, a lot of people are walking out of here with $1,000 when they were expecting $150," McAvoy said.
Steel recycling plants, especially in Maine, typically see an increase in scrap metal drop-offs in the summer. Inventories shrink because winter snow prevents residents from getting to junk cars or other bits of scrap metal in their yards.
This year, residents' spring cleaning coincided with the enormous price increase for an unprecedented rush at the scrap yards.
"My son lives near the gate, and he awoke at 5 a.m. to the smell of eggs and ham, and he thought his fiancee was cooking breakfast," McAvoy said. "But it was (the people in line at the gate) cooking breakfast, having a tailgate party."
The lines continued all day Friday, as lines had for several weeks, and will likely continue for several more. Oakland Police Chief Michael Tracy said several residents along nearby Ayer and Pleasant streets had complained about the constant traffic that often blocked their driveways and the fluids and bits of metal that drained or fell from towed vehicles.
"I don't think (the influx of haulers) is seasonal, really," Tracy said.
"I've never seen it backed up like this."
Smorgan hired several extra employees to direct traffic and try to make sure that residents could get in and out. Maine State Police have deployed all over the state, issuing warnings and tickets to those who do not comply with the law.
Pertinent requirements include:
• working brakes on trailers
• current trailer inspections
• loads must be secured with at least two cables
• trucks hauling loads of over 6,000 pounds must have a commercial license plate
• a truck must be registered for combined truck and trailer weight
Smorgon issued these in a notice to drivers. In addition, employees handed out lottery tickets to drivers as they waited in line, telling them, "the cops are handing out tickets, and we are too," according to Gerald Withee of Canaan, who, at the time, held a ticket that had just won him $100.
"Hey, it pays for my gas," he said.
Withee said he has made several trips in recent days and it takes about three-and-a-half hours to drop off a load.
Joel Elliott -- 861-9252
jelliott@centralmaine.com
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