Randy Oliver stands in front of a pile of metal he has collected at the City Dump. The City and Borough of Wrangell recently terminated Oliver’s contract to clean up the Byford Dump and other locations in town.
If you ask Randy Oliver what is upsetting him most these days, he’ll tell you one thing.
“I’m mad as hell,” he said. “And it has to do with theft of ferrous and non-ferrous metals going on at the city dump.”
Oliver, who has had a contractual arrangement with the City and Borough of Wrangell since November 2009 for scrap metal removal across the island, said that metals which are valuable, such as copper and others fetching high prices, have been disappearing from the city landfill – and that neither the Borough or Wrangell Police Department have done anything to alleviate the situation.
“We started having problems more than a year ago with ferrous and non-ferrous materials disappearing,” Oliver said. “There’s three people we know of that have taken metal out of here. There are no salvage permits here and they are taking money out of my pocket by doing this. Everything here is exclusively mine.”
The contract Oliver entered into on Nov. 30, 2009 called for cleanup of the old landfill site, which was to be capped, and was set to expire within 90 days of its execution. An amendment to the contract, dated Feb. 12, 2010, called for additional removal of metal and other items from the Byford Junkyard at 4-mile Zimovia Highway.
According to Oliver, the amendment to the contract had no expiration date and he believed it was valid and in effect until an April 5 letter from Borough Manager Tim Rooney informed him that the “Agreement for Services,” was being terminated.
Rooney’s termination letter to Oliver cited a “convenience” clause listed in his original contract with the Borough.
“Pursuant to Section 7(b) of the Agreement for Services, the City and Borough of Wrangell terminates the Agreement for Services for convenience,” Rooney wrote. “The effective date of this termination is April 22, 2013, in accordance with Section 7(b). You are directed to incur no further expenses or costs in any way related to the Agreement for Services in accordance with Section 7.”
Oliver’s original contract called for no payment by the City and Borough of Wrangell for scrap work completed, but stated that he would “be entitled to keep whatever profits derived from the contractor’s sale of scrap metal removed during the project.”
Oliver says his main problem with the Borough and staff at the landfill is their reticence to protect his metal or to police the area for vandals and thieves.
“I want some kind of restitution because we’re losing our ass here,” Oliver said. “The city has terminated me now, after I brought this issue to their attention. There are not even any “No Trespassing” signs. I’d say get some signs up here, lock the gates, do some police patrols and catch the folks that are doing this.”
Aside from his security concerns, the value of the metal he claims has been taken, versus what has been left behind, is putting his company in a financial bind because the metal remaining at the landfill, which Oliver claims belongs to him, cannot be sold via shipment out of the Borough on a barge. He added that the reason behind this is the costs involved in shipping it south - and would cause him to lose money on a shipment containing tin, light metals and other non-magnetic scrap.
“In order to get this stuff shipped out we have to use a barge or gondolas,” Oliver added. “You’re looking at $1,200 to $1,500 to get it to Seattle. The metal here isn’t worth that and would not even cover that. My valuable metals are being stolen and we can’t make it on the white metals. We can’t break even. The ferrous and non-ferrous metal is what makes this work.”
In a letter delivered to Wrangell Public Works Director Carl Johnson, Oliver alleges that staff at the dump has been assisting the individuals he believes are taking his metal.
“I had my guys out gathering steel and non ferrous at the landfill,” Oliver stated. “They (went) inside the building to see if there was any metal. Sitting by one of the doors were two brass auto pilot stations. When asked about grabbing them, they were told ‘no they didn’t go.’ (Name redacted) showed up later that day and they were placed in the back of his pickup along with other brass that your employees had obviously pulled out and were holding for him.”
Johnson, the department head for landfill operations, declined to be interviewed for this story and deferred to Rooney for any questions related to Oliver’s contract or allegations.
“I’ll let Tim speak with you about this.” Johnson said in an email to the Sentinel.
While Johnson deferred to Rooney, landfill staff member Derek Meissner denied Oliver’s claims outright.
“No. That is not happening,” Meissner said. “He’s claiming we’re giving stuff away, but he’s got nothing to back up those claims.”
Rooney added that the cancellation of the contract was necessary to clarify the terms of the agreement Oliver has with the Borough.
“We sent notice for termination of the contract because Mr. Oliver has one interpretation of it and we have a different interpretation,” Rooney said. “So, the best way to clarify any of the uncertainties was to terminate the contract and we will put it back out for bid. Mr. Oliver will have an opportunity to bid on any new contract for the collection of any metals or things of that nature.”
Rooney also categorically denied that any theft was currently happening at the dump.
“No, not at all. That is not happening,” Rooney added. “There are a lot of accusations made in Oliver’s letter and I visited with the refuse department and I have forwarded the letter to the police department to investigate as well, but we have seen no theft whatsoever.”
Oliver’s claims will be a discussion item during the April 23 meeting of the Borough Assembly.
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