California Targets New Menace: Helium-Filled Foil Balloons

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal


California Targets New Menace: Helium-Filled Foil Balloons
State Senate Sees Danger and Cracks Down, But Party Planners Fight Back; the $100 Fine
By AMY KAUFMAN
July 15, 2008; Page A1

California state Sen. Jack Scott says he didn't intend to "be a party pooper." It's just that helium-filled foil balloons -- like those found at hospital gift shops and office parties -- are dangerous. They float into electric lines and cause power outages, more than 800 in California last year, utilities say. He drafted a bill to ban foil balloons; it sailed through the state Senate and now awaits a vote in the Assembly. He didn't expect the issue to blow up the way it did. Last month, at a pro-balloon rally in a Pasadena park, protesters cheered as a group of children pounced on an effigy of Mr. Scott -- made entirely of balloons. "There's a leg, get that leg!" shouted John Kobylt, a radio talk-show host who broadcast the protest live. "Look what's left of him!" he said, holding up a sagging cluster of punctured latex. "That's what happens when you ban our balloons."

Wedding planners, party organizers and balloon artists all rallied to the cause. The industry body, the Balloon Council, set up a Web site -- www.savetheballoons.com -- that urges people to contact their state representatives. Members began a grass-roots campaign to garner support...Others complained that balloon-sellers were an easy mark for legislators. "To them, we're just the balloon people. We've got the big noses and the floppy shoes," said Treb Heining, a balloon artist who began his career at 15 selling balloons at Disneyland and has since created installations for the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards. "We're the Rodney Dangerfield of the professional-events services."

(snip)

The pro-balloon people are hoping that even if the bill does pass, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will veto it. At a recent news conference, the governor commented that he couldn't get the legislature to work on the now-overdue state budget. A member of the audience joked that they'd been too busy outlawing balloons. "Oh yes, a very important law," mocked Gov. Schwarzenegger. "Let's outlaw the balloons. Let's punish the people again." Mr. Scott, however, insists balloons pose a real danger and must be stopped no matter how unpopular the move may be. "It's not my intention to ruin birthday parties, but children will inevitably let these balloons go up into the air and that's a threat.

(snip)

To cause a power outage, a metallic foil balloon must come in contact with two power lines at once. Typically, the balloon then burns and melts onto the power line. That usually causes a quick, inconsequential blip that might cause a clock radio to flash, though blackouts lasting for hours are also possible, according to Greg Simay, assistant general manager at Burbank Water & Power. Removing the balloons is potentially dangerous for the workers involved... Environmentalists say the balloons sometimes float out to sea, where they are ingested by marine animals that later die from gastrointestinal blockages. In 1985, Sheila Dean, co-director of the Marine Mammal Stranding Center, and her husband discovered a dead whale on New Jersey's coast. "When we opened it up, we found it had swallowed one of those large heart-shaped foil balloons," said Ms. Dean.

Switching from metallicized nylon to latex balloons, the professionals say, just won't do. "Foil adds the pièce de résistance onto our decorations," said Amanda Armstrong, a Mission Viejo event planner. "Latex doesn't pop enough for our clients. Everybody wants something high-end and glitzy.".. Talks are continuing, and the balloon lobby believes a solution might be close at hand. "If somebody comes up with a magical solution, I still remain open to compromise," said Mr. Scott. If no deal is reached, the bill could face a final vote in the Assembly next month.

(snip)

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121608181057552873.html (subscription)

[LisaM]

1. Balloons actually do harm birds and water life

Foil balloons are tacky anyway. If they can't make them out of something degradable, or insist that people dispose of them responsibly, then I agree with the ban.

[lilymidnite]

2. I blew out a TV with one of those

Static ... killed my TV.

Best thing that ever happened to me.

[bluestateguy]

3. Junk science

I can just see it now at some CA state prison:

Prisoner 1: What are you here for?

Prisoner 2: I was playing with helium balloons.

[Canuckistanian]

4. Balloons cause power outages?

The amount of metal in a balloon would disintegrate immediately in the presence of 220V power lines.

Any electricians here? Is this a major problem?

[exothermic]

5. Yeah, here...power lines are WAY higher than 220v. I can't see those foil balloons

causing any serious problems to the grid but I do think they're a threat to marine critters.

[Canuckistanian]

7. I just went with the lowest possible voltage

And I don't think the world would be a poorer place if balloons were banned.

A guy I worked with once watched a girl die when she bit a balloon. Apparently, a piece of the balloon lodged in her windpipe and suffocated her.

That said, these are one-in-ten-million odds in terms of lethality.

[Edweird]

8. Not a chance. I'm a lineman. Here's the deal:

First off, overhead distribution lines are far higher than 220v. Ours here in South Florida are typically 7,620volts or 13,200volts. That foil balloon would essentially vaporize. It wouldn't be capable of conducting the amount of current required to trip anything. But, let's just say for the sake of argument that it did and that foil balloon's last hurrah was to short out the line as it vanished in a flash of blue light. The power would only flicker for an instant if at all. There are voltage regulators, capacitors and most importantly a device called a recloser intended to deal with that sort of thing. The recloser acts a little like a circuit breaker in that it interrupts the current flow, however it resets itself after a predetermined interval. It can repeat this cycle several times. It is intended to deal with problems like falling or wind blown tree branches that may clear themselves.

I hope this was helpful.

Edited to add:
Furthermore, the balloon would have to create a circuit to an adjoining phase or ground. The balloon just touching one energized conductor and nothing else would have absolutely zero effect on anything. Much like how birds can sit on power lines and not get hurt. I imagine the odds are pretty long on that.

[Canuckistanian]

9. Thank you.

I KNEW that power system designers would take this kind of a thing in consideration.

And for the record, I actually understood your whole technical explanation.

Thanks again.

:hi:
:toast:

[question everything]

10. Right. Even in the story it says that there would be a

"quick, inconsequential blip that might cause a clock radio to flash.." and even the the legislative representative for the California Coalition of Utility Employees couldn't cite any examples of injuries associated with balloon removal.

[damntexdem]

6. Is this blown all out of proportion? Should we make light of it? Or will it float?

In any case, this could be a gas.

But, yet, metalicized balloons can cause power outages. Balloons of any type can hurt wildlife.