There’s a new public enemy in the city of New Orleans. It’s round, shiny, and can fly for days. In fact, this menace is generally beloved by the public, even though it’s scorned by public officials. It’s the Mylar balloon.
What are Mylar balloons? It’s actually pretty simple to tell Mylar balloons apart from other balloons, such as latex. The key is in their appearance. Mylar balloons are made of foil, a metal, that’s coated with a layer of plastic. These types of balloons usually have a shiny or reflective surface as well as words, patterns, or designs. They’re also sometimes called “foil balloons.”
Mylar is the brand name of one of the balloon manufacturers, although it’s become synonymous with the type of balloon overall.
Dangers of Mylar balloons. To be clear, government officials didn’t just wake up one day and decide Mylar balloons were a menace. Their metallic coating is a conductor for electricity, which makes them a threat to power lines. Mylar balloons can short transformers and melt wires, leading to downed lines.
Back in August, a stray Mylar balloon in New Orleans reached electricity lines near a water treatment plant, causing a temporary “flicker” in power. According to the Associated Press, the momentarily lapse in power brought down four of the pumps that keep water flowing to the city. The incident forced city officials to issue a boil water advisory for days.
Given the prevalence of these balloons in our society, the incident is far from isolated.
“They are a very big hazard to our system,” Shelton Hudson, director of reliability for the energy company Entergy, told the outlet. “Typically in the seasons of folks having graduations and birthdays and different things like that.”
Mylar balloons can also pose a danger for marine animals, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration points out. Once balloons deflate, they can become marine debris or enter the ocean, where marine wildlife may mistake them for food. Animals that consume balloons can suffer loss of nutrition, internal problems, and death. The string attached to balloons is also dangerous, posing risks of injury and strangulation.
A nationwide problem. While New Orleans may be synonymous with the party scene, it’s not the only city with a Mylar balloon problem.
FirstEnergy, an energy company that provides electricity to states including Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, said that Mylar balloons were the reason behind 200 power outages in 2018 and 2019, CBS reported. Meanwhile, California’s PG&E said Mylar balloons were responsible for 376 outages in 2019.
The consequences from these incidents can go far beyond losing power or water. In 2015, a bouquet of Mylar balloons came into contact with a transmission power line in Tehama County, California. It led to the Deer Fire, which burned more than 11,000 acres over several days.
The New Orleans ban. New Orleans City Council members referenced incidents like those above when discussing, and ultimately approving, the ban on Mylar balloons in mid-November.
Notably, the ban doesn’t put an end to the presence of Mylar balloons in New Orleans, it just means that residents can’t release them into the sky anymore. Failure to abide by the ban can lead to fines of $1,000.
JP Morrell, a member of the New Orleans City Council, told local outlet WVUE that officials preferred for the public to release latex balloons. When these types of balloons hit a powerline, “they just pop,” he said.
“Those Mylar balloons when they hit the powerline, the power is out. At that point, that is not a grid error. That’s not an infrastructure error. That’s a human error,” Morrell said.
Images | Amy Claxton | Ryan Mandelbaum
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