Blue balls on British beaches originated from power plant

UPI ^ | NOV. 20, 2023 / 12:09 PM | By Ben Hooper

[Red Badger]

Spongy rubber balls that have been washing up on British beaches in recent days originated from the Hartlepool Power Station, the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust said. Photo courtesy of the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust/Facebook

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Thousands of mysterious blue rubber balls that washed up on British beaches in recent days originated from a power plant, officials said.

The Tees Valley Wildlife Trust said the spongy rubber balls are used to clean pipes at the Hartlepool Power Station and occasionally spill out into the sea when too much pressure builds up.

"The balls are made of rubber and are not radioactive, but of course they are still a danger to marine wildlife," the trust said in a Facebook post.

The trust is asking members of the public to report locations at which the balls wash up on the beach so energy company EDF, which operates the power plant, can retrieve them.

[Albion Wilde]

This is an old housewive's trick from the 1960s, when washing machines were still draining into the sink. Tie a nylon stocking on the hose to catch lint. Housewives used to tie them to the dryer vent, also, before manufacturers started making internal lint traps. Surely this industrial company could attach some nylon net bags to their exhaust pipes to harness their blue balls.

[PhiloBedo]

40 replies and no one has mentioned the “ cleaning the pipes” reference. A good way to got rid of the blue balls.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

It is common for power plants to use such things for cleaning the condenser tubes. We used them for over 30 years.

[EvilCapitalist]

You mean Uranus?

[Ezekiel]

Self-Defense against Fresh Fruit

[Disambiguator]

Yes, Caelus.

[Harpotoo]

I knew how they felt but I never knew what they looked like:-)