Mississippi city struggles to find source of lingering smell likened to sewage, ammonia, ‘decaying animal carcass’

A mysterious smell that has been plaguing residents of Hattiesburg, Miss., for months, or even years according to some accounts, is now being investigated by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality.

According to the Hattiesburg American, the “foul odor” has been likened to sewage, ammonia, and rotting dead animals.

Last week, Mayor Toby Barker wrote on Facebook that the city is “aware there have been intervals of smell in Downtown and surrounding areas in recent days and weeks. Usually, these have occurred in the 7 - 10 a.m. range. However, there have been a few times, such as Saturday, where the smell rolled in during the evening,” he said.

Barker said that state officials have been assisting in tracking down the source of the smell.

On Thursday, he released an update on the situation, saying that Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality staff had visited two manufacturing plants in the area, although a definite conclusion on the source of the smell has yet to be reached.

Officials said that after visiting one of them “multiple times this week,” they noted that “while there is a smell that definitely pops up when you are close to the plant, there is disagreement on whether it is ‘the’ smell.”

Barker said that city officials are now “setting up a 10-day composite testing period to take BOD (biological oxygen demand) samples at one manufacturing plant, specifically where its wastewater leaves the plant and comes to our lagoon.”

The city is also in talks to hire an odor consultant, and a proposal will be reviewed next week.

Some residents commenting on Barker’s Facebook post, note that the problem has been going on for a very long time.

“This smell started around my area about three years ago; I live in the southern part of the county,” a Facebook user named Whitley S. Alvette wrote.

“I called and reported it. Someone from the sewage department eventually came out, checked my sewage line, and told me that it was my plumbing. I had a plumber to check my plumbing, and nothing was found,” she added.

“I’ve been smelling it ever since we moved to Petal and I had to start driving down this way and that was nearly 5 years ago,” added user Staci Pinto.

Residents have also used the mayor’s post to describe the “awful smell,” comparing it to a “fish market,” “the drains,” and “a decaying animal carcass.”

“My nostrils literally burnt,” wrote Facebook user Kristin Dykes. “And it smelled for a moment like ammonia.”