LBFD Public Information Officer Capt. Jack Crabtree said last night that roughly (round number estimate) 50 calls came in reporting the stink from those areas between 6-10 p.m. SCAQMD Senior Public Information Specialist Bradley Whitaker says the agency received about 20 complaints during the same time period.

There's no immediate word on the source(s) of the Feb. 12, 2020 stink, which remains a mystery thus far.

Since 2003, LBREPORT.com has reported on the periodic "mystery stinks" (that government officials more gently call "area odors") from sources that often remain publicly undetermined. (The issue may be more than an annoyance to pregnant women, children and others active outdoors and in sports as well as those with chronic health issues.)

LBREPORT.com first reported an extended area odor on July 26-28, 2003 (and pursued a Public Records Act request) that indicated residents reported a widespread gas or "rotten egg" type smell. We reported others that were especially intense, on September 18, 2011. And on Oct. 25, 2012. And on June 29, 2013. And on July 2, 2013. And March 16, 2014. And Oct. 13, 2014. And August 31, 2015.

Reports were nearly always the same: a strong gas-type, rotten-egg type. sulfur-type smell. strongest along the shore, stretching from downtown LB eastward and perceptible but dissipating a few miles inland.

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On November 18, 2014, in part in response to reports on LBREPORT.com, the South Coast Air Quality Management held a Town Hall meeting at the Golden Sails Hotel on the repeated area odors and urged residents to report area odors but acknowledged at the time that it was often unable 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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Nearly five years later on November 9, 2019, SCAQMD issued a release acknowledging having received more than 2,000 complaints from residents in Long Beach, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach reporting periodic foul chemical/petroleum/rotten-egg type smells since at least January 1, 2016.

In the November 9, 2018 release, SCAQMD identified the alleged source of an Oct. 26, 2018 stink that stank up an area from Long Beach through Seal Beach to Huntington Beach. SCAQMD issued a November 6, 2018 "Notice of Violation" for fugitive emissions it alleged from a Hong Kong-flagged crude oil tanker that was berthed at Tesoro's marine terminal in Long Beach.

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The November 9, 2018 SCAQMD stated in pertinent part:

[SCAQMD release text]...Since Jan. 1, 2016, SCAQMD has received more than 2,000 complaints from residents in Long Beach, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach of petroleum, sulfur and/or chemical-type odors. During these odor incidents, SCAQMD inspectors were not able to identify a source; however, an analysis of wind patterns strongly suggested an offshore source of the odors.

SCAQMD partnered with fire departments in Long Beach, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach and trained their personnel to collect air samples during odor incidents. Analysis of these samples in SCAQMD's laboratory showed higher levels of chemical compounds including several hydrocarbons and sometimes hydrogen sulfide, all indicative of an odor source from crude oil and/or unprocessed natural gas. Crude oil contains dissolved hydrocarbon and sulfur gases that can be released to the atmosphere if not properly contained in the vessel's storage tanks.

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