Scrap Metal Recyclers Express Concern Over New Law

Lobbyists from the scrap metal recycling industry plan to attend a meeting at 1 p.m. Monday to express concerns about Senate Bill 321, which proponents say is intended to cut metal theft, CBS Atlanta and the Marietta Daily Journal report.

The bill would require recyclers to perform a variety of checks before buying scrap metal from a seller, such as getting signed statements of ownership from everyone who brings metal to sell, registering with their local sheriff’s office to be part of an electronic database, getting copies of the driver's licenses of each seller and taking video or a digital photo of every item bought, the AJC, CBS and the MDJ say.

Adam Blank, co-owner of ABC Recycling, told CBS he already does many of the things the law requires and it cost him about $100,000 in cameras and computer systems.

Kenny Tesler, co-owner of ABC Recycling, told the MDJ that some of the requirements of the law are "way overkill."

Blank told The Florida Times-Union that he particularly opposes the provision of the law that states recyclers would have to wait 14 days before paying people who sell them scrap. He said the waiting period would cripple his business.

Forrest Duaine Bee Jr., 45, an employee with the city's , was charged with felony theft by conversion for ordering nearly $1,100 worth of wiring on municipal funds and then selling it for a personal profit, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and MDJ report.

At the time of the order of the 5,000 feet of wiring, Bee said it would be used at the pavilion at , the AJC says.

Bee was arrested March 8 and booked into the . He was released March 9 after posting $2,500 bond, the AJC says.