Donovan bill would ban intentional release of balloons

‘Plastic pollution is one of the biggest hazards to animals,’ she says

Posted 1/27/20

PROVIDENCE — The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing tomorrow, Jan. 28, on legislation introduced by Rep. Susan Donovan (D-Dist. 69, Bristol, Portsmouth) to protect the …

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Donovan bill would ban intentional release of balloons

‘Plastic pollution is one of the biggest hazards to animals,’ she says

Posted

PROVIDENCE — The House Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing tomorrow, Jan. 28, on legislation introduced by Rep. Susan Donovan (D-Dist. 69, Bristol, Portsmouth) to protect the environment and wildlife by banning the intentional release of balloons into the air.

“We are known as the Ocean State and for our beautiful beaches. We must keep them clean and safe not just for people, but for wildlife. Plastic pollution is one of the biggest hazards to animals, and this is an easy way to cut down on an item that poses one a serious danger to them,” said Rep. Donovan 

Balloons not only pose a significant threat to wildlife, they are a nuisance to commercial fishermen and cause dangerous power outages, Rep. Donovan said. On Jan. 12, a stray mylar balloon caused a power outage that left over 2.500 customers without electricity in Palo Alto, Calif.

All released balloons, including those falsely marketed as biodegradable end up as litter on our waterways and landscapes, she said. Animals, attracted by their vibrant colors and shapes, mistake them for food causing injury or death to countless sea and land creatures each year, Rep. Donovan added. Animals also can become entangled in the string or remains of balloons. 

According to Save The Bay, the plastic remains of 737 balloons were found along Rhode Island’s shoreline during its statewide cleanup in September 2018.

Rep. Donovan, an avid kayaker who represents a coastal district, has witnessed these dangers firsthand. A couple of years ago, while kayaking on the Sakonnet River off Portsmouth with a friend, she encountered a seagull entangled in the string of a balloon. She said she captured the gull, which was injured and suffering, and used some nail clippers she had with her to free it from the string.

The bill (2020-H 7261), which is modeled after legislation proposed in New Jersey, would prohibit any intentional release of balloons, except for scientific or meteorological purposes with government permission, hot air balloon launches as long as the balloons are recovered, and indoors. Each violation would be punishable by a fine of up to $500 per offense, although releases of multiple balloons at once would be considered a single offense.

“Many people release balloons during celebrations, but they don’t think about the harm it brings to our state and wildlife.” said Rep. Donovan. “Balloons released that way are causing wildlife to suffer very painful and totally needless death. I don’t think anyone really wants their celebration to inflict that kind of suffering. It’s time to put an end to this unintentional but very harmful type of pollution.”

She added that she attended an event that was part of the Newport stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2018, when Dee Caffari, the skipper of a competing yacht named “Turn the Tide on Plastics,” talked about the extent of the plastics pollution she witnessed in her time sailing around the world. The item that bothered her most, she said, was balloons.

In 2018, the New Shoreham Town Council passed an ordinance banning the sale of balloons on Block Island as a means of addressing this issue. Rep. Donovan’s bill would not prohibit balloon sales, only the outdoor release of balloons.

The legislation has widespread support from environmental groups across Rhode Island and fishermen’s associations, according to Rep. Donovan. The measure is among the bills that will be heard by the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Jan. 28, at a hearing that begins after the House session, likely sometime after 4:30 p.m., in Room 101 on the first floor of the State House.

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