Mysterious smell in downtown Hattiesburg: Lots of theories but no answer

A mysterious smell that some residents say has lingered for months, even years, is back in downtown Hattiesburg and the surrounding area, including Petal.

The foul odor has been described multiple ways: some residents say the smell is ammonia-like, others guess it's raw sewage. Some residents liken it to the scent of a rotting dead animal.

The smell is reportedly most noticeable in the morning, but at times it rolls in during the evening, an unwanted odiferous fog.

"We will continue to work to track down the source," Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker said in a Facebook post. "Finding the cause might take some time, so we ask your patience as we use every resource available to us through the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality."

Comments on Barker's post proposed theories about the source of the smell, ranging from the city's sewer lagoons to a chicken plant to storm drains.

Barker said the city has been working with MDEQ since December to determine the cause of the smell.

Testing has indicated the city's sewer lagoons are working properly, Barker said. The lagoons are tested multiple times per month to check they are operating within prescribed limits of the city's MDEQ permit. The city has not had a violation at its lagoons since 2017.

The city has also reached out to several industrial employers to determine a potential source.

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Contact reporter Laurel Thrailkill at lthrailkill@gannett.com or on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: What's that smell in downtown Hattiesburg? Residents offer up theories