- Can you smell it? That smelly smell that smells smelly?
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Oh, sorry Hamlet, we meant North Salt Lake.
At least that’s what you’d think if you go by the smell. For the past week or so, the Utah city has been tormented by a mysterious, gut-wrenching stink.
The worst part, though, is that nobody seems quite clear on where on earth the stench is wafting from.
In all fairness, it’s nothing unusual for North Salt Lake to stink to high heaven. The city regularly experiences unpleasant smells from cleaning procedures at its sewage treatment plant.
But this time, things are different. Accounts of the current smell vary, but the “fishy” and “shrimp-like” odor simply doesn’t match the bouquet of the sewage plant’s emanations.
So, where is it coming from? Nobody knows — but the locals really hope someone would figure it out before it chokes the life out of the city.
‘Like A Catfish with a Yeast Infection’
Reports of the noxious smell started coming in around October 6. Many locals were hoping for the crisp smell of an autumn morning, yet they got everything but.
One of the first smellers of the smell was local Jacqueline Marie Cocilovo. She wrote about her horrible experience on the North Salt Lake Facebook community.
“I love opening my windows this time of year as fall being my favorite season,” Cocilovo wrote.
“But when I opened them this morning (around 4:15 a.m.) I was met with an awful putrid smell. It was like a combo of dog waste and garbage that’s been sitting too long.”
Cocilovo said she’s been living at her current home in the Foxboro neighborhood for two years. Never in that entire time has she smelled anything this “disgusting.”
She’s not the only one who’s disgusted and puzzled by the smell. Latai Kaufusi, another Foxboro resident, told of her experience to KSL TV.
“It was like, really yucky. It kind of smelled like dead fish, just something really rotten,” she said.
“I was thinking the worst, like, ‘Ew! It’s probably like a decomposed body somewhere!’”
The North Salt Lake Facebook group and local news media are also full of reports of the stench. The residents are describing the stink using terms like “fishy,” “brine shrimp,” and — our favorite — “a catfish with a yeast infection.”
Yeah, something fishy is definitely going on.
Not the Usual Suspects
So, where could the smell come from? Locals were quick to point their fingers at the South Davis Sewer District’s sewage treatment plant.
You can’t blame them for that reaction. The North Salt Lake plant has historically stunk up the place at regular intervals.
Every four to five years, the South Davis Sewer District cleans the sanitary sewer digesters at the plant. The process takes a few months and creates a lot of reeking sludge.
The plant has had other issues as well. In 2020, it received a violation notice for releasing malodorous gases.
But this time, the plant actually isn’t to blame.
“We have an odor reporting tool that we’ve received a lot of complaints on this morning. We have had odors from the sewer district before … The odor is not the same odor that we typically see,” Matt Myers, South Davis Sewer District General Manager, told KSL Radio.
“The prevailing winds on some of the weather stations that we’ve checked also don’t seem to be consistent with when we have experienced odor issues in the past.”
Some locals also agree. On Facebook, many point out that this particular stench — although just as revolting — has the aforementioned distinctive, delicate notes of rotten fish and shrimp that the sewage plant’s aroma lacks.
Maybe It’ll Go Away
For the time being, nobody seems to know where the stench originates. Many people have theories, though.
One culprit could be the Great Salt Lake itself. Due to the ongoing drought in the region, the lake’s water level has dropped drastically.
As the lake bed dries, all the algae and other water-based gunk is left to rot in the sunlight. That could explain the fish-like smell that people have noted.
Others have posited that it could be someone processing deer skins — it is hunting season, after all. That said, some locals have pointed out that you’d need a lot of deer skins to stink up the entire town.
People are calling on authorities to do something about the smell. But until they know where it comes from, there’s little they can do.
The City of North Salt Lake has said it’s committed to discovering the source. But until they do, they’re just kind of hoping it goes away on its own.
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