LONGVIEW — Officials say the source of the smell that reportedly caused headaches and sore throats from Kelso to Portland last week is still undetermined.
Despite reports of negative reactions, Brittny Goodsell, communications manager for the Southwest Region Office for the Washington State Department of Ecology, said the smell has not been deemed as dangerous.
She added that when people smell dangerous odors like the chemicals added to natural gas to alert them of a possible spill, the exposure isn’t immediately hazardous.
The Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management said calls to the Cowlitz County 911 center regarding the odor started around 6:30 p.m. Sept. 24, and the smell progressed from south Kelso to Kalama, down to Clark County, and then to the Portland metro area.
People compared the smell to burning rubber, garbage, ammonia or natural gas, saying the smell caused them to have itchy eyes, headaches and sore throats.
However, spokesperson Debra Carnes said PeaceHealth didn’t receive any patients connected to the odor last week.
Cowlitz County Fire District 5 and the Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management reported they checked with companies including Longview’s Nippon Dynawave and Kalama’s LanXess, but no operational issues were reported.
Goodsell said her agency followed leads received last week but has received no new tips lately.
She said the Department of Ecology recently fixed air-monitoring stations — one in Longview and two in Vancouver — that were collecting data during the reports of the smell last week.
Goodsell added that a Cowlitz County fire agency also performed roving air monitoring the evening of Sept. 24.
“Our understanding is that they weren’t measuring any readings at levels that would be of concern,” she said.
Goodsell said her department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also performed such roving air-monitoring tests in the Longview area two days after the odor was first reported, but nothing abnormal was detected.
