NEW ORLEANS — Utility companies have been warning about the dangers of Mylar for years balloons and that message resonated Thursday across New Orleans as most of the city’s nearly 370,000 residents were under control. boil water warning for a time after a wayward balloon hit power lines near a treatment plant. The alert was lifted entirely on Thursday after authorities announced that water samples in the impacted areas tested negative for contaminants.
Film-coated metallic balloons are beautiful, shiny things when they come out of your hand. Balloon releases are a popular way to celebrate big events. But they are trash when they come down. And environmentalists have long complained about the dangers they pose to wildlife. And, as New Orleans was reminded this week, they can be a big problem for public services.
Entergy New Orleans, which provides electricity to the city, said a floating Mylar balloon hit a power line near the water treatment plant Tuesday night. This only caused a momentary “oscillation” of energy in the facilities. But the head of the agency that manages the city’s drinking water, sewage and street drainage systems said that was enough to shut down four main pumps that keep the water flowing.
An unspecified injury to one of the workers tasked with restarting the pumps caused a delay that allowed water pressure to drop. Low pressure could allow bacteria to enter the system, so as a precaution, a boil water advisory was issued Tuesday night. Authorities lifted the warning for a small area on the west bank of the Mississippi River on Thursday. But initial test results showed possible contamination on the East Bank, where the warning remained in effect for most of the city’s nearly 370,000 residents until authorities announced the warning was being lifted citywide on Thursday. . Officials said no contaminants were detected during new water tests.
It happens so often that many utility companies have been paying attention for years.
“They pose a great danger to our system,” said Shelton Hudson, Entergy’s chief reliability officer. “Usually at times when people have graduations, birthdays and different things like that.”
St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation, which provides electrical services in Illinois and Missouri, said there were 582 balloon-related outages nationwide last year, affecting 800,000 customers. Utility electrical & Gas, New Jersey’s largest utility, reported in 2020 that it had experienced a 26% increase in outages caused by Mylar balloons over a five-year period.
Entergy and other utilities have safety tips on their websites that include keeping Mylar balloons indoors, tying them with weights or anchoring them to secure objects, and deflating and discarding them when the celebration is over.
Utility lines aren’t the only concern. Environmentalists and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say balloon debris is a danger to wildlife. Birds, turtles and other animals sometimes try to eat the remains, causing injury or death, according to the report. USFWS.
Some communities have gone so far as to ban the release of balloons. Galveston, Texas, for example, banned outdoor balloon releases in 2021, Texas media outlets reported. But there was resistance from business interests. The Balloon Council, an industry group, says on its website that it endorses a California law passed in 1990 that regulates helium-filled Mylar balloons. But the group has criticized other laws in recent years that it considers to be too restrictive and harmful to companies.
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