City Officials Still At Loss To Explain Foul Odor

Hazel Sanchez
CBS News
Jan. 09, 2007

Flashback: How the U.S. Army Carried out a Poison-gas Attack on the N.Y. Subway(CBS) NEW YORK - It's the smell that's being "heard" around the country. It's seems everybody is talking about the gaseous odor that took over Manhattan and parts of New Jersey on Monday morning.

"It smelled like leaking gas. When you turn on your stove," Shira Gordon said. "It was just a very strong odor."

Said Mayor Mike Bloomberg: "The smell is there. We don't know the source of it."

Department of Environmental Protection and Con Edison crews have been on the streets trying figure out what the smell was and where it came from. Their inability to do so, so far is causing a big stink with city residents.

Marcos Medina was among thousands of people evacuated from Midtown office buildings, schools and train stations Monday morning after concerns of a dangerous gas leak surfaced.

"You don't know where it's coming from," Medina said. "And you don't know what it is. It's something to worry about. Hopefully they'll figure it out before the morning comes."

But Medina said he's not impressed by the city's success record in dealing with odd odors. In 2005 a mysterious maple syrup scent blanketed Manhattan twice in a matter of weeks.

And last August, seven people got sick after a gaseous odor was reported in Queens and Staten Island. The source of that odor is still unknown.

Monday's smelly situation is no different.

Earlier Monday, Bloomberg said city agencies were working together to pinpoint the nature of the gas leak.

The strange odor was being reported to the Office Of Emergency Management from Lower Manhattan to Midtown.

"There is no danger from the gas at this point," Bloomberg said. "The city has not found any high concentrations of the gas."

He added, "The (city's gas) sensors do not show any high concentration of gas that we should be concerned.

"People should do their best to ventilate, open windows or turn on any fans until this gas passes."

Bloomberg also said there was no indication the air was unsafe to breathe.

"It may just be an unpleasant smell," he said.

Natural gas is odorless, and the chemical called mercaptan is added to give it an odor. The mayor said the smell might have been the result of a leak of mercaptan.

He also suggested that the investigation is centered on Bleeker Street at Sixth Avenue, where there was a small gas leak. However, it appears that the leak was too small to account for the citywide odor.

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to CBS 2 that there is no indication of terrorism:

"The department is closely monitoring the situation and talking with local officials, who are the lead in coordinating response to this incident. It is early on, but there is no indication at this time of a terrorism connection. Nor is there any credible intelligence to suggest an imminent threat to the Homeland or to New York City at this time. We’ll continue to coordinate closely with local officials as they determine the source of the odor," said Russ Knocke, spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security.

An NYPD official told CBS 2 that Con Edison said there was no drop in gas pressure in the city, and there were no 9-1-1 calls reporting gas leaks in the city.

The source also said that various NYPD environmental readings around the city had found "nothing hazardous." There was "no increase in 9-1-1 calls of people feeling sick, just many calls from people reporting the smell."

The 23rd Street subway platform on the F Line was evacuated. PATH service from Hoboken and Journal Square to 33rd Street was suspended but restored after 10:30 a.m.

At least four Manhattan schools were evacuated but students were later allowed to return to the buildings. The evacuated schools included the Norman Thomas High School at 33rd Street and Park Avenue; P.S. 3 at 490 Hudson St.; P.S. 11 at 320 W. 21st St.; and Greenwich Village Middle school near Hudson Street.

Some buildings were also evacuated as a precaution, including the Regional 9 office of the Department of Education on Second Ave.

The Fire Department began getting hundreds of calls about the odor around 9 a.m., said spokesman Tim Hinchey.

There were reports of a similar smell across the river in Jersey City.

The Jersey City Fire Department used meters to determine the origin of odor. Their indication was that the smell was coming from New York.