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They pull in behind restaurants under cover of darkness, break a few locks on the outside containers and suck up hundreds of gallons of thick, yellow used cooking oil with jury-rigged pumper trucks.
These grease thieves are in and out quick, and prove slippery to catch.
And while it's not as glamorous as stealing diamonds or artwork, billions of dollars are potentially at stake.
The nation's restaurants use millions of gallons of cooking oil each year.
When they are done with it, the restaurants hire someone to take it away.
Used oil can be used in wax, soap, cosmetics, explosives, poultry feed and fertilizers. It can be processed and mixed with diesel fuel to make "biodiesel" — a rapidly growing segment of the fuel industry.
Some companies even purify used cooking oil and sell it overseas for human consumption.
And when the price goes up, grease thieves go to work.
just a slimy mess left
Empty bins and slimy messes are typical calling cards that grease thieves leave behind.
"It's a terrific hassle," said Clayton Keller, supervisor of a group of four McDonald's restaurants in Springfield. "They make an unbelievable mess, leaving 10 to 20 gallons of grease all over the place for us to clean up."
At the Golden Corral restaurant on East Primrose, General Manager Marty Hogan said grease thieves have hit his bins several times.
His restaurant's security camera caught one group of thieves in the act.
"They just backed up their truck and started sucking up the grease," Hogan said.
"We went out and asked them what they were doing, and they tried to talk their way out of it. We reported it to Griffin Industries."
The Cold Springs, Ky.-based business is one of two large used-oil recycling companies that operate in the Ozarks area.
They contract with area restaurants to haul away their used cooking oil, eliminating that hassle for their clients and generating a tidy profit for themselves.
Billions of dollars spent
Yes, there's a lot of money to be made in the used-grease business, according to Griffin spokesman Keith Wendorf.
"Recycling used cooking oil is a multibillion-dollar industry, although most don't know that unless they're in the business," Wendorf said.
And grease thieves hope to cash in on some of those profits.
"It creates a serious problem for us," Wendorf said. "They're stealing from us. We've got restaurants in Springfield under contract where I haven't picked up a pound of grease in two years."
Used cooking oil currently is worth about 17 cents a pound, Wendorf said.
That's not a lot, but when hundreds or thousands of pounds of oil are stolen, it adds up to a significant loss for Griffin Industries.
He estimated his company is losing about $20,000 a week to grease thieves operating in the Ozarks region.
Wendorf said large grease recyclers won't buy used oil from individuals because there's no way to know whether it's been stolen.
But some unscrupulous small oil-recycling companies do buy from individuals, creating a market for grease thieves to sell what they steal.
"This has been a problem for several years, especially in southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas and Oklahoma," he said.
Griffin pays restaurants a small amount when the price of used oil is up.
But Griffin said few restaurant employees are aware of those contractual arrangements and would not think twice when they see a truck out back cleaning out the grease bins.
Nor is catching grease thieves high on a police department's priority list, he acknowledged.
"We're trying to educate police departments that used oil is not something that's waste, it's a marketable product," he said. "But I recognize that police do have a lot going on and catching grease thieves may not be one of their priorities."
Local accused of theft
In Harrison, Ark., police caught a Springfield man earlier this week allegedly pumping used oil from behind an Arby's restaurant.
Leslie Hall, 21, was arrested on charges of breaking and entering and theft.
Detective Craig Harp said Hall had a 1975 Chevy truck with a homemade 900-gallon grease tank and homemade pump attached to the bed.
The truck was impounded as evidence.
"We think he was coming down here and taking the oil back to Springfield where he got paid for it," Hart said.
Keller, the McDonald's manager, said grease thieves hit his restaurants so often that he installed a grease-containment system inside his stores.
Though costly, the system prevents grease thieves from gaining access to the oil.
Golden Corral still stores its used grease outside, but Hogan, the restaurant's general manager, said it's easy now to spot grease thieves.
"Griffin has big, clean 18-wheel trucks they use to pick up the grease," he said. "They also steam-clean the area. When you see a truck back there that's pretty rough, you know it's not Griffin."
http://www.news-leader.com/today/20050507-Thievestakegrea.html
These grease thieves are in and out quick, and prove slippery to catch.
And while it's not as glamorous as stealing diamonds or artwork, billions of dollars are potentially at stake.
The nation's restaurants use millions of gallons of cooking oil each year.
When they are done with it, the restaurants hire someone to take it away.
Used oil can be used in wax, soap, cosmetics, explosives, poultry feed and fertilizers. It can be processed and mixed with diesel fuel to make "biodiesel" — a rapidly growing segment of the fuel industry.
Some companies even purify used cooking oil and sell it overseas for human consumption.
And when the price goes up, grease thieves go to work.
just a slimy mess left
Empty bins and slimy messes are typical calling cards that grease thieves leave behind.
"It's a terrific hassle," said Clayton Keller, supervisor of a group of four McDonald's restaurants in Springfield. "They make an unbelievable mess, leaving 10 to 20 gallons of grease all over the place for us to clean up."
At the Golden Corral restaurant on East Primrose, General Manager Marty Hogan said grease thieves have hit his bins several times.
His restaurant's security camera caught one group of thieves in the act.
"They just backed up their truck and started sucking up the grease," Hogan said.
"We went out and asked them what they were doing, and they tried to talk their way out of it. We reported it to Griffin Industries."
The Cold Springs, Ky.-based business is one of two large used-oil recycling companies that operate in the Ozarks area.
They contract with area restaurants to haul away their used cooking oil, eliminating that hassle for their clients and generating a tidy profit for themselves.
Billions of dollars spent
Yes, there's a lot of money to be made in the used-grease business, according to Griffin spokesman Keith Wendorf.
"Recycling used cooking oil is a multibillion-dollar industry, although most don't know that unless they're in the business," Wendorf said.
And grease thieves hope to cash in on some of those profits.
"It creates a serious problem for us," Wendorf said. "They're stealing from us. We've got restaurants in Springfield under contract where I haven't picked up a pound of grease in two years."
Used cooking oil currently is worth about 17 cents a pound, Wendorf said.
That's not a lot, but when hundreds or thousands of pounds of oil are stolen, it adds up to a significant loss for Griffin Industries.
He estimated his company is losing about $20,000 a week to grease thieves operating in the Ozarks region.
Wendorf said large grease recyclers won't buy used oil from individuals because there's no way to know whether it's been stolen.
But some unscrupulous small oil-recycling companies do buy from individuals, creating a market for grease thieves to sell what they steal.
"This has been a problem for several years, especially in southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas and Oklahoma," he said.
Griffin pays restaurants a small amount when the price of used oil is up.
But Griffin said few restaurant employees are aware of those contractual arrangements and would not think twice when they see a truck out back cleaning out the grease bins.
Nor is catching grease thieves high on a police department's priority list, he acknowledged.
"We're trying to educate police departments that used oil is not something that's waste, it's a marketable product," he said. "But I recognize that police do have a lot going on and catching grease thieves may not be one of their priorities."
Local accused of theft
In Harrison, Ark., police caught a Springfield man earlier this week allegedly pumping used oil from behind an Arby's restaurant.
Leslie Hall, 21, was arrested on charges of breaking and entering and theft.
Detective Craig Harp said Hall had a 1975 Chevy truck with a homemade 900-gallon grease tank and homemade pump attached to the bed.
The truck was impounded as evidence.
"We think he was coming down here and taking the oil back to Springfield where he got paid for it," Hart said.
Keller, the McDonald's manager, said grease thieves hit his restaurants so often that he installed a grease-containment system inside his stores.
Though costly, the system prevents grease thieves from gaining access to the oil.
Golden Corral still stores its used grease outside, but Hogan, the restaurant's general manager, said it's easy now to spot grease thieves.
"Griffin has big, clean 18-wheel trucks they use to pick up the grease," he said. "They also steam-clean the area. When you see a truck back there that's pretty rough, you know it's not Griffin."
http://www.news-leader.com/today/20050507-Thievestakegrea.html