N.Y. To N.J.: What's That Smell?

[Willowdared]

NJPD? Did you cut one?

NYC Environmental Officials Eye N.J. As Odor Source

Christine Sloan
Reporting

(CBS) JERSEY CITY It's the smell no one could figure out, something similar to the smell of rotten eggs, lingering over Manhattan and parts of New Jersey.

Mayor Bloomberg said, "The smell is there, we don't know the source of it."

DEP and Con Ed crews spent Monday trying to figure out what the smell was and where it was coming from.

While the odor was gone by Tuesday, city officials were eyeing New Jersey.

Charles Sturcken, a spokesman for the city Department of Environmental Protection, said Tuesday that his agency was pretty sure the source of the smell was along New Jersey's industrialized waterfront, just across the Hudson River from New York.

"The way we tracked the dispersion of the smell and the prevailing winds indicates that it came from New Jersey, somewhere near Secaucus," Sturcken said.

Complaints about the odor also came from Bergen and Hudson counties in New Jersey, but no air sampling was done there because the state Department of Environmental Protection had no specific locations to test, spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said.

Sturcken said that the odor could have been caused by mercaptan, the chemical added to normally odorless natural gas to make it easily detectable, but he added, "Nothing has been confirmed."

"We're left with a mystery, although we know it's not harmful," he said.

Whatever caused the odor, it didn't settle too well with thousands of people who had to be evacuated from Midtown office buildings, schools and train stations.

While Homeland Security officials say there's no indication it had anything to do with terrorism, some did worry.

"You don't know where it's coming from, and you don't know what it is," said evacuated worker Marcos Medina.

This isn't the first time people have had to deal with a stinky situation.

In 2005, a mysterious "maple syrup" scent blanketed Manhattan twice in a matter of weeks.

Last August, seven people got sick after an odor of gas was reported in Queens and Staten Island. The source of that odor is still unknown.

This situation is no different this time. The only difference, perhaps, is that city officials reportedly are blaming the stench on New Jersey.

"Con Edison not reporting any drop in pressure. Concentrations are not strong enough to be harmful," Bloomberg said on Monday.

[Resident Smart Ass]

NJPD? Did you cut one?

NYC Environmental Officials Eye N.J. As Odor Source

Christine Sloan
Reporting

(CBS) JERSEY CITY It's the smell no one could figure out, something similar to the smell of rotten eggs, lingering over Manhattan and parts of New Jersey.

Mayor Bloomberg said, "The smell is there, we don't know the source of it."

DEP and Con Ed crews spent Monday trying to figure out what the smell was and where it was coming from.

While the odor was gone by Tuesday, city officials were eyeing New Jersey.

Charles Sturcken, a spokesman for the city Department of Environmental Protection, said Tuesday that his agency was pretty sure the source of the smell was along New Jersey's industrialized waterfront, just across the Hudson River from New York.

"The way we tracked the dispersion of the smell and the prevailing winds indicates that it came from New Jersey, somewhere near Secaucus," Sturcken said.

Complaints about the odor also came from Bergen and Hudson counties in New Jersey, but no air sampling was done there because the state Department of Environmental Protection had no specific locations to test, spokeswoman Elaine Makatura said.

Sturcken said that the odor could have been caused by mercaptan, the chemical added to normally odorless natural gas to make it easily detectable, but he added, "Nothing has been confirmed."

"We're left with a mystery, although we know it's not harmful," he said.

Whatever caused the odor, it didn't settle too well with thousands of people who had to be evacuated from Midtown office buildings, schools and train stations.

While Homeland Security officials say there's no indication it had anything to do with terrorism, some did worry.

"You don't know where it's coming from, and you don't know what it is," said evacuated worker Marcos Medina.

This isn't the first time people have had to deal with a stinky situation.

In 2005, a mysterious "maple syrup" scent blanketed Manhattan twice in a matter of weeks.

Last August, seven people got sick after an odor of gas was reported in Queens and Staten Island. The source of that odor is still unknown.

This situation is no different this time. The only difference, perhaps, is that city officials reportedly are blaming the stench on New Jersey.

"Con Edison not reporting any drop in pressure. Concentrations are not strong enough to be harmful," Bloomberg said on Monday.

Whoever smelt it, dealt it

[gozling]

you know... he does fluff the covers..

so ive heard....

but tenting the whole city!!!

that is like down right super powers there!

[Resident Smart Ass]

you know... he does fluff the covers..

so ive heard....

But at least i did keep you warm

[BEK]

the feds are trying out new smelly weapons and testing there effects on NY and NJ. Next will be the jelly filled donut. Cops from all over will be drooling and crime rates will increase as cops try to find the location

[Willowdared]

Whoever smelt it, dealt it

Someone must have pulled your finger really hard!!!!

[Resident Smart Ass]

Someone must have pulled your finger really hard!!!!

Is that what you're calling it?...and if that's the case, trust me, it smells of protein

[Willowdared]

Is that what you're calling it?...and if that's the case, trust me, it smells of protein

And only the size of a finger?!

[Resident Smart Ass]

And only the size of a finger?!

[mavriktu]

The last time I was in that neck of the woods the only time I smelled anything odd in Jersey was when we passed a Bareta plant,and I live in a paper mill town

I know let the flaming begin, I WAS only joking ya know.