Protest Balloons Trigger Warning
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SWAINSBORO, Ga. — Environmentalists released hundreds of balloons Saturday to protest a medical waste incinerator despite the warnings of other activists that sea life hundreds of miles away could be adversely affected.
About 500 Emanuel County residents and activists, organized by Citizens Against Pollution, gathered on the courthouse grounds in the southeast Georgia city of Swainsboro, which is about 100 miles from the Atlantic Coast.
About 1,000 pink and red helium-filled balloons carried postcards into the skies with a message asking the finder to mail the card back to the group. It is hoping to show area politicians how far air currents can carry pollution.
A coordinator of the balloon release said the environmentalists are concerned that a medical incinerator planned for the county could release toxins dangerous to the environment.
At the same time, Jean Rogers, office manager of the Jacksonville, Fla., Greenpeace office, said the balloons can endanger sea life, since sea turtles can mistake deflated balloons for jellyfish.
Rogers said hundreds of the turtles have been killed by balloons released at football games, parties and protests.
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