NYC Stink Source: New Jersey Swamps?

No one quite knows for sure where the foul odors reported yesterday came from. There are a few theories, one being that excess mercaptan used to spike natural gas so that you can find leaks made its way into the gas distribution system, but another one being proffered by the NYC DEP is that it was New Jersey swamp gas.

By evening, the answer seemed to be a stinky gas emitted by a New Jersey swamp or marsh.

"That's where our noses and instruments tell us" the smell was coming from, said Charles Sturcken, a spokesman for the city Department of Environmental Protection.

The theory is within "the realm of possibility," said Stephen Jones, a spokesman for the New Jersey office of Emergency Management.

The odor, which sparked fears of terrorism, had people jamming 911 and Con Ed lines from Battery Park to Inwood from river to river.

Figures.