Mystery odor came from Longview, with the state looking at area paper mills, officials say - oregonlive.com

Oct 20, 2024

FILE - Steam is seen at the Longview WestRock mill, which makes cardboard materials including container board and corrugated containers, March 14, 2024, in Longview, Wash. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)AP

The strange, concerning odor that wafted into Portland about three weeks ago originated in the area of Longview, Washington, air-quality officials said Thursday. But the hunt for the source of the smell continues.

Late on Sept. 24 and the following morning, many residents of Southwest Washington and Portland smelled a sharp, unpleasant odor, with reports indicating the odor traveled south down the I-5 corridor. One person said on social media that it smelled “like a fat fart.”

Officials at the time were stumped, saying no industries reported leaks or unusual discharges, and scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey said the odor did not come from geological activity.

Officials at the regional Southwest Clean Air Agency, in Washington state, have already ruled out several potential sources of the smell, and the source they haven’t ruled out — pulp mills — is overseen by a different agency, Executive Director Uri Papish said.

Two mills in Longview produce wood pulp by cooking wood chips treated with sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide, a process that Papish said produces a “highly odorous” compound called reduced sulfur.

Those mills are regulated by the Washington Department of Ecology, which on Thursday was focused on the pulp mill owned by Smurfit Westrock, after a post on the social-media site Reddit triggered a slew of questions from the public, spokesperson Brittny Goodsell said. The agency has not been able to confirm whether that mill was, indeed, the source.

“We are investigating air quality data from the Westrock mill that could be tied to the September odor complaints,” Goodsell wrote in an email. “We have not confirmed that these emissions led to the issues.”

There is no indication the company violated its air quality permit, Goodsell said.

The company has “fully cooperated” with the state’s investigation and done its own review of the issue, a Smurfit Westrock spokesperson said in a statement. No air permit violations occurred Sept. 24, Robby Johnson wrote, “and there is no indication the Longview paper mill was the source of odors cited in complaints.”

— Fedor Zarkhin is a breaking news and enterprise reporter. Do you have a story? Reach him by phone or text at 971-373-2905 or by email at fzarkhin@oregonian.

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