NEW ORLEANS — Utility companies have been warning about the dangers of Mylar for years balloons and that message resounded throughout New Orleans on Thursday, as most of the city’s nearly 370,000 residents were under a boil water advice for a time after a wayward balloon struck power lines near a sewage treatment plant. The advisory was lifted completely later on Thursday after authorities announced that water samples in the affected areas had tested negative for contaminants.
The metallic, film-covered balloons are pretty, shiny things when they leave someone’s hand. Releasing them is a popular way to celebrate major events. But they’re litter when they fall. And environmentalists have long complained about the dangers they pose to wildlife. And, as New Orleans was reminded this week, they can be a major problem for utilities.
Entergy New Orleans, which provides electricity to the city, said a floating Mylar balloon struck a power line near its water plant Tuesday night. It caused only a brief “flicker” of power at the facility. But the head of the agency that manages the city’s drinking water, sewer and street drainage systems said it was enough to knock out four key pumps that keep the water flowing.
An unspecified injury to one of the workers assigned to get the pumps running caused a delay that caused water pressure to drop. Low pressure can allow bacteria to form leaks in the system, so a boil-water advisory was issued Tuesday night as a precaution. Officials lifted the advisory for a small area on the west bank of the Mississippi on Thursday. But initial test results showed possible contamination on the east bank, where the advisory remained in effect for most of the city’s nearly 370,000 residents until authorities announced Thursday night that it would be lifted citywide. Authorities said no contaminants were found in further water testing.
It happens so often that many utilities have been paying attention to it for years.
“They’re a huge threat to our system,” said Shelton Hudson, director of reliability for Entergy. “Usually around the time when people are graduating, having birthdays, things like that.”
St. Louis-based Ameren Corporation, which provides electric service in Illinois and Missouri, said there were 582 balloon-related power outages nationwide last year, affecting 800,000 customers. Public Service Electric & Gas, New Jersey’s largest utility, reported in 2020 that the number of power outages caused by Mylar balloons had increased by 26% over a five-year period.
Entergy and other utilities provide safety tips on their websites. For example, store Mylar balloons indoors, attach them to weights or other objects, and deflate and throw them away after the party.
Utility lines aren’t the only concern. Environmentalists and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say balloon debris poses a danger to wildlife. Birds, turtles and other animals sometimes try to eat the debris, causing injury or death, the USFWS.
Some communities have gone so far as to ban balloon releases. Galveston, Texas, for example, banned outdoor balloon releases in 2021, Texas news organizations reported. But there has been pushback from corporate interests. The Balloon Council, an industry group, says on its website that it supports a 1990 California law regulating helium-filled Mylar balloons. But the group has criticized other laws in recent years that it says are overly restrictive and harmful to business.