Avoid about two blocks in any direction, it smells like an elephant died during high noon. I hope it clears up soon. This not your everyday garbage smell. Something's wrong, very wrong.

I'm going to scan the news, tonight.

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"Love your pets . . . just don't LOVE your pets."

Wow. Speaking of stenches, has anyone noticed that around 8th & Locust it's frequently very stinky? This is by both Jefferson U. and the PATCO subway, so I'm wondering if one or the other is the culprit.

19th & Sansom? Oh, that's just the stench of corruption from the Parking Authority and Historical Commission's ill intent for that block, with a whiff of Hal Wheeler's 18th St project mixed in. %-)

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Jayfar
--
“I am indeed well aware of the history of Conventional (sic) Hall, both globally and locally, and can assure you that we are carefully exploring avenues for its future.” -- Penn President Amy Gutmann 5 days before demolition began.

:rolling_:

I think part of the reason is that there's a sewer line junction around there somewhere.

I was on a "what's beneath the streets" tour years ago, with one of the water department guys - walking along above ground, but pointing out what the different manhole covers and spraypaint color codes are for
- water lines, storm sewer & sanitary sewer, communications, power, steam etc; and the differnent types and sizes of underground pipes.

The old time sewer lines ran directly out to the creeks and rivers, but were replaced with a system that had "interceptor lines"- so that rather than pouring into the river, the sewers pour into an underground pipe.

The problem is that pouring a soda into a glass release the CO2 gasses and causes the soda to foam up, underground sewer pipes pouring their contents into other pipes stirs up the flow and causes a smell.
There are all kinds of different junction boxes designed to keep the flow against the wall so it's smooth and smell-free, much like pouring a carbonated drink against the side of the glass- no turbulence, no gasses.

When trash gets washed off the street and caught in the pipes, it dams up the flow, stirs things up
it stirs up the flow

Well, I'd guess one of the restaurants has a dumpster full of garbage and water. Usually happens when the dumpster is sitting under a gutter that was blocked, and the water pours down into the dumpster.

You might also have a restaurant that's dumping their used deep frier grease into the stormsewer out back instead of having it hauled away.
Hot grease + cold pipe = blocked pipe and after a few days you get a smell that would knock a buzzard of a manure wagon at 200 feet.

Hal

I was wondering about this myself. I work near there and couldn't believe the stench. The friend that I was walking with said maybe there was a dead animal caught in the sewer. LOL! :rolling_:

Granted, I'm new to the city, but that sounded very strange to me!

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Mahatma Gandhi

Also remember that sometimes WMI or Waste Management Inc sometimes has their garbage containers loaded on the trains that are sometimes parked for days at a time along the rail line running by the river by 23rd & locust. I biked by there a few days ago and pee yeeeewww It stunk like hog hell..


I think they do that just to get back at the city for building the bike route and trying to block access to bikes..

I've noticed this problem as long as I have been living in Philadelphia (4 years). Philly is just a smelly town. Sometimes I walk down the street and have to hold my nose, its that bad. If you think center city smells, you need to travel down to S Philly. I ride my bike down Snyder Ave everyday to get to work. At around 6th n snyder i really put the peddling into high gear and high tail it outta that blocks radius asap. it smells like a dead body mixed with rotten eggs. its so god awful.