CA City's Putrid Oder Triggers County To Declare An Emergency

CARSON, CA — Anyone who has merely driven through the city of Carson in recent weeks has undoubtedly caught a whiff of a noxious stench.

Residents in the city and even those on the outskirts, have been plagued with that unrelenting odor for nearly a month now, prompting the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to declare a local emergency Tuesday. The order comes on the heels of another local emergency declaration that came down in the city last week — and local officials are now turning to Gov. Gavin Newsom for assistance.

The smell is emanating from low levels of hydrogen sulfide, a decaying organic material in Los Angeles County's 15.7 mile river, the Dominguez Channel, which empties into the ocean.

Although officials have urged that the odor is not harmful, thousands of residents from Carson, West Carson and portions of Gardena, Torrance, Redondo Beach, Wilmington and Long Beach have complained about the odor. Some residents have reported headaches, burning eyes, nausea and other discomfort.

Officials hope that the declaration will free up more funding to do away with the punishing smell.

"I want to be very clear. This declaration ... of a local emergency does not mean that the hydrogen sulfide levels emanating from the Dominguez Channel now pose an imminent danger to the health of our residents. It does not," said Supervisor Holly Mitchell.

Mitchell called on Newsom this week to also declare an emergency.

"We're clear the odor is causing consistent and real health symptoms like nausea, headaches, throat and eye irritation that is deeply troubling and severely impacting the quality of life for far too many residents," Mitchell said.

The invisible gas — which smells an extreme case of rotten eggs — can even be smelled from the 405 freeway, a heavily traveled thoroughfare through southern Los Angeles County.

A third-generation Carson resident told the Los Angeles Times that the city wreaked of "rotten flesh sitting in the sun."

Initially, officials told residents that the odor would disappear within a matter of days, but the smell is just as strong as it was when it was first reported Oct. 3. The county's Public Works department began spraying the river with Epoleon, a natural biodegradable spray that mitigates hydrogen sulfide odor by converting the gas into a byproduct of salt, which the county will remove in a separate process — but this is just a short term solution.

To date, Public Works has spent an estimated $5.4 million to date on remediation and providing or reimbursing residents for air filters, air purifiers and temporary relocation.

"Even with that, these Herculean efforts have not eliminated the nuisance odor to date," Mitchell said.

A permanent solution to the horrible stench could involve dredging the channel, the city said last week. But that process could take months, according to Mark Pestrella, director of the county's Department of Public Works.

It would have to be done very carefully to prevent separate environmental problems caused by other chemicals released from the channel, he said. If the channel needs to be dredged, it would involve draining about five acre-feet of water.

The county board voted late last month to fast-track support for residents in Carson and neighboring cities. As of Monday, the county received some 14,557 requests for either reimbursement or direct assistance.

City News Service contributed to this report.