December 24, 2016

Why Philly smelled like rotten eggs and farts

By Daniel Craig
PhillyVoice Staff

Pexels/Stock

Late Friday night, Philadelphia and some surrounding areas were covered in a smell described as eggs, farts and "straight a--."

According to media reports, the smell was caused by a "non-dangerous chemical release." NBC10 reports that too much of a sulfur-like additive was released from a Paulsboro, NewJersey, gas plant, resulting in the strong odor.

Local news stations said they were flooded with calls about the smell, which started sometime around 9:30 p.m. Samantha Phillips of the city's Office of Emergency Management tweeted that PGW responded to the issue, adding that the smell was not caused by a gas leak.

Gas smell in city is caused by sulfur additive; is not a gas leak. @MyPGW is aware/responding. 911 is aware; coordinating with PGW.
— Samantha Phillips (@SamPhillipsPHL) December 24, 2016

It's a sulfur additive, not gas per PGW. PGW has response teams deployed in the city. https://t.co/DgLJRAqiLt
— Samantha Phillips (@SamPhillipsPHL) December 24, 2016

Luckily, there were no reports of anyone being hospitalized because of the smell. But that didn't mean it was any less unpleasant, as Philadelphians took to social media to describe the stench in a number of colorful ways (Warning: The following tweets include language some may find offensive):

Philly smell like morning breath right now 😂
— Warriors 26-4 (@Linbo_Slice) December 24, 2016

Philly smell like straight basura tn
— Camila (@_cahmeela) December 24, 2016

why does philly smell like eggs
— G-Eazy (@sean_pirmann) December 24, 2016

Philly smell like a boiled 🥚😂😷
— 🤴🏾 (@selimdivine) December 24, 2016

It smell like rotten eggs and ass in philly🤢🤢
— Obdulio Ramos (@1718_ramos) December 24, 2016

Why does Philly smell like farts? #stank
— Jeff Gibbard (@jgibbard) December 24, 2016

Is it me or Philly smell like ass right now⁉️
— EWAY PE$O (@EwayPeso) December 24, 2016

I was wondering what tf that smell was 😭 south philly what tf is going on cause this crap is making me lose sleep
— S A V A G E ✨❤️❗️ (@adoredej_) December 24, 2016