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Another Long Beach "Mystery Stink" (Aug. 31), As In Previous Area Odors, Mainly Along Shore And Southerly ELB


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(Sept. 1, 2015) -- Last night (Aug. 31), LBFD began receiving reports about 8:30 p.m., which LBREPORT.com began receiving in the 9:00 p.m. hour, of a foul odor, experienced mainly in along shoreline areas and parts of southerly ELB.

From our Facebook page and email: Alamitos Heights. Belmont Shore (2nd/Ravenna; 2nd/Tivoli). Bellflower/Willow. Clark/Wardlow. Park Estates. Palo Verde/Atherton. PCH/7th ("so bad I had to roll the car windows up because my eyes were burning.")

By the 9:00 p.m. hour, LBFD says it received [caveat, very rough estimate] about 50 calls reporting it; as in previous mystery stinks, no source or cause identified. The reports to us indicated the odor began dissipating about midway into the 10:00 p.m. hour.

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LB's Gas and Oil Dept. received nearly 50 calls, and Director Chris Garner indicated via email in the 10 p.m. hour: "As we always do, we immediately checked out pipeline system's pressure. No pressure drop which indicates no major rupture or leakage. Then verified no issues occurring on our oil islands. Dispatched two Gas Field Reps with special gas detectors to area to check area for a minor natural gas leak. The results were negative for natural gas. Reported mysterious odor to AQMD which sent out a rep. He believes it is more of a sulphuric odor but has been unable to pinpoint any source at this time."

The last "mystery stink" (of which we're aware) was on October 13, 2014, began about 6 p.m., reported by residents in and around downtown Long Beach and adjacent areas, again an area odor of unknown origin and unknown chemical composition. That was preceded by a very intense incident on March 16, 2014, with an odor experienced across a fairly wide area mainly from downtown Long Beach to Cherry Ave. beginning at late afternoon and lasting for roughly three hours into the evening. [Scroll down for further.]

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In last night's (Aug. 31, 2015) area odor, some residents described it as a gas-like smell. (As indicated above, an AQMD rep believes it was more of a sulphur-type odor. On previous occasions, residents variously described it as similar to a hair-permanent solution, or roof tar, or asphalt, or petroleum-like. There were similar instances in 2013 and 2012.

On November 18, 2014, the South Coast Air Quality Management held a town hall meeting at the Golden Sails Hotel on the repeated area odors. AQMD representatives provided information and urged residents to report area odors.

AQMD, which is the regional government agency responsible for protecting public health from air pollutants, has had an inability to swiftly capture real-time air samples for testing. At the AQMD town hall meeting, some residents volunteered to do this and there was some discussion of doing so.

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So...to what substance(s) were thousands of Long Beach residents exposed last night? As of dawn today, we don't know...but we'll continue to pursue the story.

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Developing.



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