Last week’s mysterious odor in Washington counties leaves officials baffled

The source of a mysterious odor that swept through various counties in Washington last week remains unidentified, leaving officials perplexed.

Despite a multi-agency response, the origin of the strange smell that affected dozens of residents on Tuesday and Wednesday is still unknown, according to the Washington Department of Ecology.

A department spokesperson said officials are collaborating with Cowlitz and Clark County authorities, as well as federal officials, to uncover more information.

"Some of our Ecology Spills staff recently went onsite in Longview with EPA to do air roving monitoring. However, that didn’t pick up any abnormal readings," Brittny Goodsell Southwest Region Office (SWRO) Communications Manager spokesperson said.

While the odor’s source remains a mystery, multiple agencies have confirmed there is no threat to the public.

"Odor thresholds are often much lower than what can harm people. That means you can sometimes smell something even though it’s not immediately dangerous to be exposed to it. In addition, some chemicals have odors added to them (such as natural gas) so you can smell it and know something dangerous is going on. Odors can be good indicators of something before it’s hazardous. However, we don’t have any evidence or confirmation yet that the odor from last week is dangerous," the statement said.

https://katu.com/news/local/washington-officials-still-puzzled-by-mysterious-odor-source

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Author: KATU News
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News post in at: October 4, 2024, 3:02 am.

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