news
Smellmageddon 2011: Sniffing Out an Explanation
All across the GTA this morning—from as far north as Richmond Hill, as far west as Mississauga and as far east as Scarborough and Markham, and even far from the city in Belleville—reports of a stench came rolling in. Descriptions of the smell ranged from manure, sewage, or spoiled milk, to “rotten dog do [sic] and spoiled veggies” or “a straight up cocktail of foulness.”
Here is the range of explanations we’ve heard so far:
- Stronger than normal easterly winds, in combination with recently fertilized farmers’ fields. According to this data, there was a sustained gust of wind at 9 a.m., and reports of the smell started appearing shortly thereafter. Our resident rural expert (and photographer) Corbin Smith is doubtful that newly manured farmers’ fields are to blame. Is it farm smell, or sewage smell? “Though it is about the right time of year for farmers to be spreading fertilizer, it would be really rare for the smell to travel that far, and overwhelm the more ‘local smell,'” he says. “In my experience (growing up on/around farms) any fertilizer spreading smell doesn’t really travel more than a few kilometres.”
- An explosion that occurred at the Atlantic Recycling & packaging plant on Midland and Ellesmere that led to a chemical reaction between sulfur dioxide with an unknown element (a theory that appeared in comments on a BlogTO post about the smell). This is definitely a strong contender, but not many people have reported a “sulfur-like” smell and there are no reports confirming this explosion as of yet.
- The odorous emanations of an abattoir near King and Bathurst streets, spread about by strong winds. [via @TasteTO on Twitter]
- One of the usual suspects: the Ashbridges Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant. A chemical engineer who focuses on environmental safety told us it’s a possibility. “Air emissions from one of the sewage treatment plants. They often smell like shit but it is usually only a local effect.” He also suggests strong stenches that waft over the city could be algae related, though that “usually isn’t widespread,” or an industrial source located east of the city: “Chemically speaking, the fecal smell can be due to chemical species called indole or skatole. The rotten eggs smell can be due to mercaptans or hydrogen sulphide.”
- Green bins! It’s not summer yet, but warmer weather has been known to “elevate” the odour of rotting green matter and that leftover liquefied horror from the bottom of bins that leaks on sidewalks and streets as they’re emptied.
But we’re still not which of these theories makes the most scents (apologies). Feel free to update us and your fellow readers on the State of the Stench in the comments.