Robin
07-08-2004, 03:50 AM
Disneyland uses pressurized air to launch fireworks
By Tim Molloy
Associated Press
Jul. 07, 2004
LOS ANGELES - The happiest place on Earth is trying to make sure its fireworks keep the neighbors happy too.
To reduce the noise, safety hazards and smoke involved in the displays that light up the sky over the park on summer nights, Disneyland has gotten rid of the explosive powder that has been used to launch fireworks since they were invented thousands of years ago.
Instead, it is using pressurized air to launch fireworks - a system that not only reduces smoke, but also allows for better displays, said Marilyn Waters, a spokeswoman for Walt Disney Imagineering.
"You can vary the pressure, which controls velocity and acceleration," Waters said. "What you're trying to do with fireworks is paint a picture in the sky. So this gives you more control over your brush."
The park starting using the new system June 11. The move comes partly in response to about 70 complaints since 1991 by some of the park's neighbors in Anaheim to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which regulates air quality in the Los Angeles area.
The district has limited control over the displays - it can only give the park a nuisance citation if six to 10 people complain on a single night, something that has never happened. And in tests of the air around the park, the district found that the fireworks posed little risk to public health.
But district staff met with Disneyland officials in August 2003 to talk about the complaints and ways to reduce emissions and odors, and the two sides may approve a good-faith agreement Friday in which the company would agree to continue using its pressurized air system.
Disney would also agree to attempt to reduce smoke from its aerial bursts, which still use powder, in the next few years.
"What they're doing now has reduced the smoke at the ground level, and that's probably the most effective place to reduce it, because that's where people are going to breathe it," district spokesman Sam Atwood said.
Disney has several patents on the air launcher, and hopes to give it to a nonprofit group that can share it with theme parks, stadiums, and others that continue to use powder for launches, Waters said.
By Tim Molloy
Associated Press
Jul. 07, 2004
LOS ANGELES - The happiest place on Earth is trying to make sure its fireworks keep the neighbors happy too.
To reduce the noise, safety hazards and smoke involved in the displays that light up the sky over the park on summer nights, Disneyland has gotten rid of the explosive powder that has been used to launch fireworks since they were invented thousands of years ago.
Instead, it is using pressurized air to launch fireworks - a system that not only reduces smoke, but also allows for better displays, said Marilyn Waters, a spokeswoman for Walt Disney Imagineering.
"You can vary the pressure, which controls velocity and acceleration," Waters said. "What you're trying to do with fireworks is paint a picture in the sky. So this gives you more control over your brush."
The park starting using the new system June 11. The move comes partly in response to about 70 complaints since 1991 by some of the park's neighbors in Anaheim to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which regulates air quality in the Los Angeles area.
The district has limited control over the displays - it can only give the park a nuisance citation if six to 10 people complain on a single night, something that has never happened. And in tests of the air around the park, the district found that the fireworks posed little risk to public health.
But district staff met with Disneyland officials in August 2003 to talk about the complaints and ways to reduce emissions and odors, and the two sides may approve a good-faith agreement Friday in which the company would agree to continue using its pressurized air system.
Disney would also agree to attempt to reduce smoke from its aerial bursts, which still use powder, in the next few years.
"What they're doing now has reduced the smoke at the ground level, and that's probably the most effective place to reduce it, because that's where people are going to breathe it," district spokesman Sam Atwood said.
Disney has several patents on the air launcher, and hopes to give it to a nonprofit group that can share it with theme parks, stadiums, and others that continue to use powder for launches, Waters said.