The cause of a mysterious stench, a suspicious smell, an odor described as “funky,” “foul,” “putrid,” is still unidentified by experts.
The rancid air event overnight between Tuesday, Sept. 24, and Wednesday, Sept. 25, vexed the nostrils of residents from the Centralia/Chehalis area south to the Portland metro area peaking at 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. The National Weather Service of Portland mapped wind tracks that described the path this stench apparently traveled. The odor was first reported between Kelso and Vancouver, near Kalama, before Clark County residents filled the 911 dispatch center with reports of the hazardous stench.
Cowlitz County officials suggested during the unpleasant stench that residents close all doors and windows and to turn off outdoor air sources until the smell was identified. But the looming odor was gone with the wind before a cause was identified, something that still remains a mystery.
One resident near Lewisville Park stated on social media that in just two minutes of being outside, the smell made their nose run, with others stating the smell woke them up.
By night’s end, dozens of Hazmat investigation calls dotted the map of the Clark Regional Emergency Services Agency’s (CRESA) fire and emergency service calls on the Pulsepoint app.
The Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management (DEM) stated in a Wednesday, Sept. 25, press release that no cause had been identified in the odor event.
In the press release, Cowlitz County DEM stated, “... we will be standing down from response to investigation mode. We have contacted multiple state and federal agencies seeking to determine who will be the lead agency moving forward. As of this release, that agency has not been identified.”
The Cowlitz County DEM added it was continuing to work with the Washington state Department of Ecology, the Washington State Emergency Management Division and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to answer questions.
The odor created a big stink across area social media from residents describing the smell to almost everyone demanding an answer.
“It’s like gas and rotting trash or sulfur,” one commenter in a Woodland Facebook group stated.
Numerous residents inside the smell-zone reported that the odor was causing pounding headaches, nausea, throat irritation and other symptoms.
On Sept. 25, CRESA confirmed that no pipelines or large industrial complexes along the Interstate 5 corridor reported any anomalies, leaks, loss of pressure or other alarms. Also rather quickly, the Cascades Volcano Observatory ruled out Mount St. Helens as the culprit of the big stinky.
Social media comments suggested the rancid air event could be a precursor to an earthquake, such as the Cascadia Subduction Zone’s “Big One.”
While not linked to the southwest Washington odious odor by public agencies, at around 4 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 26, a 4.0 magnitude earthquake rattled the northern Puget Sound region. The quake took place 32.3 miles below earth’s surface between the San Juan Islands and Vancouver Island in the Salish Sea region, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network website.
