Residents from Long Beach to Orange County noticed a strange odor in the air on Thursday, Sept. 10 the result of a chemical spill near Compton, officials said.

Workers cleaning by an oil well in the 200 block of Alsina Street in Los Angeles knocked over a tank of liquid mercaptan, a non-toxic chemical used to add a detectable smell to natural gas and other hazardous materials, at about 11:15 a.m., Los Angles County Fire Department officials said.

The substance gave off an odor as it evaporated and was blown south.

Its highly concentrated in its liquid form, said Marvin Lim, a Fire Department spokesman. It went up into the air, and the winds carried it.

The odor could be smelled throughout the region, as far away as Anaheim and Buena Park, officials in those cities said.

Although only two gallons of the chemical was spilled, it can be quite pungent, Fire Department inspector Sean Ferguson said. It has a rotten egg or skunk smell to it.

People were able to smell it over a wide area, Ferguson said. It got picked up over the winds, so we had folks in scattered pockets getting a smell of this, calling 911 thinking it was a gas leak.

Fire officials helped mop up the chemical.

The odor did not pose any health risks, but those with sensitive senses of smell were advised to stay indoors until it dissipated.

Excerpt from:
Strange odor in Long Beach and Orange County from chemical spill in LA - OCRegister