Mystery of pungent stench tormenting Southern California city lingers

Update: The mystery stink doesn’t come from a broken pipeline after all, Carson officials say. Now officials believe it’s from decaying organic matter in the Dominguez Canal. The city also declared the noxious odor a “public nuisance” Monday.

Original story: A pungent stench tormenting residents of a Southern California city for days has been identified, Carson officials say.

An investigation found the smell comes from a leaking hydrogen sulfide pipeline near the Dominguez Channel, Carson Mayor Lula Davis-Holmes reported on Facebook.

The smell has been variously described as resembling burning tires, rotten eggs or the zombies of “The Walking Dead” television show. KABC reported.

“It smells like puke, vomit, it’s just terrible,” Davis-Holmes told KTLA.

“It’s like having an open sewer line to some degree, but it’s 10 times that,” City Councilmember Cedric Hicks told the station.

More than 200 people have complained about the smell in recent days, KCAL reported.

“I’m trying to stay out of it as much as possible,” resident Pamela Jackson Henderson told the station.

Hydrogen sulfide is used in gas and oil refining along with other industrial operations, the Long Beach Post reported. It can cause headaches, eye irritation and nausea.

In her Facebook post, Davis-Holmes blasted agencies investigating the odor for their “lack of transparency.”

“My question to all involved agencies now that we have identified the problem is what and when will the problem be corrected. who is at fault and what will be done to prevent this from happening again,” Davis-Holmes wrote.

Carson is a city of 92,000 people in Los Angeles County, north of Long Beach.

This story was originally published October 10, 2021 at 9:21 AM with the headline "Mystery of pungent stench tormenting Southern California city lingers."