Gas thieves develop taste for cooking oil

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Story Published: May 14, 2008 at 9:46 AM PDT

By Web staff

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SEATTLE -- Some slick grease bandits have put a local biodiesel company over a barrel.

The eco-friendly fuel is so valuable that thieves are stealing the rancid cooking oil used to make it.

After the French fries are cooked at local fast food joints, the spent oil becomes a precious commodity. Tanker trucks collect the leftover grease from dozens of local restaurants and transport it to Standard Biodiesel in Arlington, Wash. where it's made into high-grade fuel.

With the price of biodiesel at $5.65 per gallon in Seattle, thieves are developing a taste for waste oil.

"And it's been escalating as time goes by," said John Wick, president of Standard Biodiesel in Seattle.

Standard Biodiesel says it loses 30,000 gallons of the leftover oil each month. But even with all that stolen oil on their hands, it turns out the grease bandits may not be as slick as they think they are.

"We know who's taking it, but they don't know that we know," Wick said.

Surveillance cameras at the plant captured the oil thief who allegedly works for a competitor.

"And this is the best part here," said Wick as the video showed the man peeling off Standard Biodiesel's official labels before rolling an entire barrel of oil away.

"There's probably 30 to 40 gallons, 30 gallons in that 55-gallon barrel," said Wick.

The owner says competition is fierce.

"It's big corporations. It's multi-state corporations and they don't like to see change. We are change," said Wick.

With diesel prices averaging $4.60 per gallon, even so-called biodiesel home brewers are slipping behind restaurants to steal. Standard Biodiesel is now working with several police agencies to stop the seepage.

"I think people are definitely looking to alternative forms of energy, and biodiesel is just one of those gaps," said Wick.

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