Mylar Balloon Forces Evacuation of California Oil Refinery
TORRANCE (AP) - All it took was a wayward metallic balloon to temporarily shutter a California refinery and force the evacuation of about 1,000 workers.
The Mylar balloon blew into power lines and tripped an automated emergency system at the ExxonMobil refinery in Torrance on Thursday, causing a short circuit that sent huge flares and billows of dark smoke from smokestacks, fire Capt. Steve Deuel said.
The resulting dip in power set off restart systems and prompted a large burn-off of products at the refinery, Deuel said. No injuries were reported.
Southern California Edison spokesman Steve Conroy said at least one of the balloons flew into transmission wires and caused voltage to dip and fluctuate.
The helium-filled balloons, which often announce "It's A Boy!" or other congratulations, have a shiny surface that acts as a conductor. Just one balloon in power lines can cause a short circuit.
As a precaution, about 1,000 electricians, pipefitters and other contract workers were sent to a nearby park. After about two hours, some returned to the job and others were sent home, Deuel said.
Federal filings indicate the Torrance facility is capable of refining about 150,000 barrels of crude oil a day, making it one of the top 10 refineries in California by production.
The outage didn't cause any equipment failure or serious air pollution, Deuel said, but the refinery expects it will take 12 to 24 hours to restore full production.
Utilities regularly warn of the dangers of Mylar balloons around Valentine's Day and major holidays.
"In those periods where Mylar balloons are popular, we do see that they get away from people, or they let them go, and they come into contact with wires overhead or substations, causing outages," Conroy said.
Another outage affecting 32 customers was reported a few blocks away from the refinery about 15 minutes earlier.
Conroy said the outages aren't believed to be related, but the investigation is ongoing.
Torrance is located in southwest Los Angeles County.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
