June 23rd, 2007
High on helium: selling off stockpiles
A YEAR AFTER the helium plant near Amarillo, Texas, started selling the stuff to private buyers, local officials say that levies on the sales have generated enough revenue to justify a cut in tax rates. Residents can thank the Helium Privatization Act of 1996, which authorized the government to sell off its long-derided stockpile of the gas.
The Helium Reserve Program began in 1925, when the War Department longed to create a fleet of fighter blimps. The government eventually concluded that slow, melon-shaped vehicles are not well suited for warfare. Nonetheless, in 1960 the program ballooned to include refining and storage facilities, which grew to hold 32 billion cubic feet of helium.