American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2015 - 117

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
talks with AIPRO about the state's latest
metal theft prevention measures. Rutledge
took feedback and answered questions,
and said some theft-related issues might
have to be changed in statute.

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge shared
what her office had been doing in conjunction with her counterparts in the surrounding states to deter or catch metal
thieves.
She noted that thieves looking for
copper had targeted houses, schools, industrial locations, irrigation systems, and
well sites. "Even though copper prices
have gone down, our thieves don't keep
up with commodity prices," Rutledge
commented. "For instance, before they
might have gotten $150 for an air conditioner. Now, they probably get $5 or $6,
but it still costs that church, school, home
or business more than $1,500 in parts to
replace."
Rutledge said her office launched a
metal theft prevention program this summer, in which AG agents trained local
law enforcement officers on how to use
online leads to investigate metal theft.
She added that her office also hosted
seminars to teach scrap metal dealers
how to spot possible metal thieves. She
remarked that this prevention program
had been effective.
"Arkansas statute says scrap dealers
are required to report certain things whenever a purchase is made, including the
seller's name and identification; and
photos of the driver's license, the vehicle,
and the scrap itself," Rutledge remarked.
"Before the training sessions, we were
seeing photos that looked like they had
been taken from outer space."
Rutledge shared that she hoped that,
as a result of these additional countermeasures, thieves would stop stealing
metal. With the prevention program in
place, she said more scrap dealers were
in compliance, and there had been fewer
violations, and more cooperative and effective metal theft "busts" by law enforcement agencies.

According to her counterparts in Texas,
there has been a rise in theft of nonferrous
metals, Rutledge said. Because of that,
she asked that AIPRO members give her
office feedback on how the metal theft
prevention program had worked in their
communities. She also said AG agents
were available to make presentations to
individual companies.
In response to a question, Rutledge
remarked that surrounding states had similar measures to stop thieves, "however,
some states are more stringent than others."
She mentioned that some states, such
as Mississippi, had holding periods, or
did not allow dealers to pay in cash.
"Unfortunately, our border towns are
the most difficult to monitor," Rutledge
allowed. "Because Mississippi has that
holding period, thieves sometimes come
to Arkansas . . . to try to find scrap
dealers willing to work with them. Our
goal is to find scrap dealers who need
the most training."
In regard to retrieving property, Rutledge clarified that property owners would
need to work with local authorities to get
property returned without having to buy
it back. She mentioned, though, that her
office had been looking at changing a
statute to require dealers to make restitution. When an attendee asked about the
seemingly "revolving door" at the jail
for metal thieves, Rutledge proposed that
it might be necessary to raise the bail
amount for such charges, but that also
would need to be changed in statute.
Regulatory Update
Becky Keogh, director of the Arkansas
Department of Environmental Quality,
along with Larry Bengal, director of the

Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, gave
a regulatory update during the AIPRO
convention. Keogh remarked that her
agency issued 586 general and water permits to the oil and gas industry during
2014. There also were 203 compressor
station permits and 80 other oil and gas
permits, she confirmed.
As of early October, she said there
had been only one complaint inspection
in the industry this year, and 15 compliance
inspections. Overall, she said the DEQ
was shifting its inspection focus away
from exploration and drilling, and more
toward pit closures and other types of
operations.
"In the last year or so, there have
been fewer complaints against the industry
than we had previously," Keogh remarked.
"Plus, 2015 reports show that Arkansas'
operations are doing relatively well."
Keogh notified attendees that several
new federal air regulations, such as the
Clean Power Plan, were "coming down
the pipe soon," and advised industry
members to be mindful of that. "I want
you to know there are a lot of questions
on the states' parts, regarding how these
rules can be implemented and whether
they will result in positive impacts on
the environment," she stated.
To this end, she said the Environmental
Council of States had formed the Shale
Gas Caucus to seek ways to reduce emissions and "find solutions to similar problems across the states."
Keogh also told AIPRO the DEQ intended to reorganize and streamline its
permitting process. "With all these federal
regulations, we want to make this process
as easy as possible for all parties involved,"
she said.
❒

From left, AIPRO Executive Vice President J. Kelly Robbins and Arkansas Oil & Gas
Commission Deputy Director Shane Khoury learn accompanying vocals for a song by
humorist Rik Roberts. Roberts performed during the AIPRO membership luncheon, and
asked the two attendees to help him present the song.

NOVEMBER 2015 117

American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2015