Around 4 pm on Wednesday, February 17, I (Whit Parker, Publisher of the Jacksonville Review) was one of the first to call the Jacksonville Police Department to report a natural gas smell in downtown Jacksonville. After first noticing the strong gas-like smell in my office located on the far, east side of California Street in the historic core, I went outside, where the smell was even more prominent. Minutes later, Jacksonville Fire & Police arrived on-scene and worked with 4 crews from Avista Utilities, the gas company to locate a suspected gas leak. After an extensive search, no gas leak was found. Interestingly, I also detected a faint smell of “manure” in the air.
So, what caused the stink? The working theory according to Jacksonville Fire Chief Devin Hull, who was on-scene to investigate, is that a nearby farm, field, orchard or vineyard recently used a fertilizer/pesticide containing the chemical “mercaptan” that when mixed with yesterday’s rain and high winds, somehow created a gaseous stink cloud.
According to a search, Methyl mercaptan is produced by the reaction of hydrogen sulfide with methanol. It is used as a gas odorant; an intermediate in the production of pesticides, jet fuels, and plastics; in the synthesis of methionine; and as a catalyst. At this time, it appears as if the “intermediate in the production of pesticides” explains the smell since mercaptan is a chemical component of some pesticides. At this point, there is no conclusion to this story but we will keep you posted. In the meantime, if you think you smell natural gas, don’t assume anything and call 911 to report it.