What’s that smell? Officials probe mystery odor in Delco

Some people had a cough in their throat. Others had headaches. Some businesses closed and one school dismissed early because of a strange widespread unidentified smell in the western part of Delaware County Friday.

“We’re no longer receiving calls, which is a good sign,” Delaware County Director of Emergency Services Timothy Boyce said Saturday. “I think we still should all be concerned about what was the source of this release.”

The 911 Center began receiving calls around 10 a.m. Friday morning from police, firefighters and residents in the area of Chester Heights, Aston and Concordville of an unidentifiable odor that smelled like gasoline or home heating oil.

“It really was an irritant to a lot of people,” Boyce said, adding that the smell drifted northeast as his center began to get calls from the areas of Broomall, Newtown Square, Media and Springfield.

No one was treated for conditions related to this incident, Boyce said although some businesses did close and the Chester Charter School dismissed early.

Delaware County’s Hazmat United and the Emergency Operations Center were activated. The county’s Department of Emergency Services worked with state officials and representatives from local refineries to try to determine the odor’s source.

“We never were able to determine the source of the release,” Boyce said. “If we had found a source, we would have gone from there.”

He said the duration of the event was about six hours.

He said one theory was that perhaps a rail car or tractor trailer traveling through Delaware County released it and continued on their travels.

That’s why he is asking anyone who may have seen something out of the ordinary Friday to call their local police.

“If they saw anything unusual (Friday) morning 8 o’clock, 10 o’clock, don’t be afraid to give a call to your authorities,” Boyce said, adding that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection had been made aware of this event.