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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2003
Contact:
Laura Vernon, DEQ Public Information Officer, (801) 536-4484
(Salt Lake City, Utah) - The Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) today received results from air samples taken near the airport of a sporadic odor that has caused some people in the area to become ill.
Results indicate vapors consistent with a petroleum-based product or fuel. However, DEQ has not yet been able to determine the source of the vapors. Natural gas was not detected and has therefore been ruled out.
"Determining a source of the vapors has been difficult because the wind has been coming from different directions during several of the reported episodes, making it hard to back track the source of the smell," said Air Quality Division Director Rick Sprott. "It is possible there could be more than one source."
The concentration of these vapors is well below protective health standards and does not pose an immediate health threat. However, vapors concentrated inside a building have been high enough to cause reports of illness.
"This information will help us as we try to find the source," said Brad Johnson, acting director of the Division of Environmental Response and Remediation.
DEQ encourages people near the airport to notify DEQ at (801) 536-4123 if the odor reappears. Information that would help in DEQ's investigation would be the exact time and place the smell occurred; the general direction of wind; whether you smelled it indoors, outdoors or both; and the characterization of the smell. For example, does it smell like gasoline, jet fuel exhaust fumes, rotten eggs or something sweet or fruity.
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