SUFFOLK -- Some say it smells like a wet dog. Others say natural gas.
Suffolk Fire-Rescue Chief Mark Outlaw has smelled it.
"It's like burnt motor oil," he said, describing the odor which recently began wafting from the area around the SPSA landfill on Route 58.
"When you're dealing with an odor, certainly our job is to make sure it's safe, which we have done," Outlaw said. "Unfortunately we can't make the odor go away."
13News has learned the Department of Environmental Quality is working with the city and with SPSA in hopes of narrowing down what may be causing the stink, before figuring out how to clear the air.
DEQ investigators speculate the heavy rain in recent months may be enhancing the usual odors of the landfill.
They are also looking into whether a new garbage "cell," that has not yet had a gas extraction system installed, may be emitting an odor.
BASF is also checking to see if the smell may be coming from its chemical plant on Wilroy Road, Outlaw said.
The city encourages anyone who smells the stench to call the DEQ's 24-hour emergency hotline, 1-800-468-8892.
