airport's baggage, The

0 Comments | La Crosse Tribune, Jul 30, 2005 | by Magney, Reid

When the airport baggage screener finds those pointy little scissors you forgot were in the bottom of your toilet kit, what becomes of them?

They could be auctioned on eBay, but they might just find their way to a charity medical clinic in a developing country.

Or if you bring your Swiss Army knife to the checkpoint, it might end up in a Boy Scout's pocket.

In La Crosse and throughout the country since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Transportation Safety Administration has collected tons of prohibited items, such as metal scissors, knives and cigarette lighters, from airline passengers.

According to the TSA, travelers have the option of putting the prohibited items into their checked luggage (assuming the item is allowed there) or taking the items back to their vehicles. But many people voluntarily abandon the item at the checkpoint.

Nationwide, many of those items end up in online auctions, but it's less clear where La Crosse's items end up.

Dale Heikkila, who's in charge of the Transportation Safety Administration office in La Crosse, estimates they've collected about 150 pounds of prohibited items in the past two years.

And that doesn't count the lighters and other hazardous materials they've taken in since April 14. A private hazmat contractor picks up buckets of them every month or so.

Heikkila said they put the abandoned items into a large plastic tub, and when it's full they send it to the TSA hub office in Madison, where it gets combined with items from other TSA offices.

Those tubs end up in a warehouse north of Madison, with other surplus federal property that's available to government and nonprofit agencies.

"We have about 400 to 500 pounds," said Bill Wilson, director of the Wisconsin Division of Federal Property.

The items go through a rough sort, and sit on shelves to get picked through by visitors, including government workers, people with nonprofit agencies and Boy Scouts.

"Most people look through the stuff, and most find a tool or a pocket knife," Wilson said. "We let the Boy Scouts have whatever they want."

The Division of Federal Property doesn't get any taxpayer funding, so it may charge a service fee for the items, he said.

Scissors are one of the most common items, and one of the hardest to get rid of, Wilson said. Private schools have picked up children's scissors to be used for art classes. And some medical-quality scissors have been packaged up by a nurse and sent to clinics in Third World countries, Wilson said. But some of the scissors go for scrap metal because nobody wants them, he said.

The division doesn't now auction Wisconsins TSA items, but that could be changing, said Wilson, who's exploring eBay as an option. People just aren't taking enough of them, he said.

In Illinois, the state auctions items online, said Laura Uselding, TSA spokeswoman. At illinoisauction.link2gov.com, you can bid on boxes of scissors, Leatherman tools, Swiss Army knives and other items. Earlier this month, an 18-pound box of Leatherman and Gerber tools sold for $421.99. A 53-pound box of scissors recently sold for $62.

The commonwealth of Pennsylvania sells items it gets from the TSA at East Coast airports on eBay. The items usually are sorted into lots of 25 to 50 pounds. Lots include kitchen knives, money clips with small folding knife blades and corkscrews, even though the TSA says corkscrews are allowed on planes.

Who buys these big lots? Often it's people who turn around and break them into even smaller lots of five or 10 items, and sell them on eBay.

WHAT'S A PROHIBITED ITEM?

The list of items you can and can't take on an airplane is long, and sometimes surprising. The Transportation Safety Administration's list of no-nos includes things like knives, metal scissors with pointed tips, any kind of tool and box cutters, But it also includes cattle prods, meat cleavers and ice axes. No blow torches, either.

WHAT CAN YOU CARRY ONBOARD?

Cigar cutters, corkscrews without knives, cuticle cutters, eyeglass repair tools including screwdrivers, eyelash curlers, knitting and crochet needles, round-bladed butter or plastic knives, nail clippers, nail files, personal care or toiletries with aerosols, in limited quantities, safety razors, plastic or metal scissors with blunt tips, toy transformer robots, toy weapons (if not realistic replicas) and tweezers. Download the full list online at www.tsa.gov.

IF YOU HAVE A PROHIBITED ITEM ...

What happens if you want a prohibited item back: If it's small and not dangerous, the TSA may give it back so you can leave it at the gift shop for pickup later or mail it to yourself.

What happens if your item is dangerous: The TSA likely will keep it as evidence. "You're not going to get your big knife back," said Dan Heikkila, head of the TSA office in La Crosse.

HOW TO GET ABANDONED ITEMS

Government agencies or nonprofit groups can request abandoned items by contacting the Wisconsin Division of Federal Property, 1 Foundation Circle, Waunakee, WI 53597, or by calling (608) 849-2449.