Wisconsin City Overwhelmed By Mysterious Foul Smell

Residents and business owners in a Wisconsin city have been putting up with a foul odor that has mysteriously wafted into town and doesn't seem to want to go away.

The City of Oshkosh, Wisconsin's Public Works Department shared on Facebook on Monday that they had been getting reports of "odd odors" around town. The smells have been getting reported for the last few weeks, leaving a lot of people frustrated and confused.

WLUK TV spoke with people around Oshkosh, who described the pungent plight as something that seemed like it was coming from inside their homes and office spaces.

One person described the smell as something similar to corn, though it seemed more sour-smelling. Others called it "horrid", saying it was more like a dead animal. One business owner said the smell was so bad "It makes you sick to your stomach and you can't breathe it in".

its so bad, people have been hiring plumbers to try to solve the problem. One church spent hundreds of dollars replacing rugs, thinking that was the issue. None of that fixed the widespread problem.

That sounds awful!

City officials in Oshkosh have been monitoring the smell and working with the public to respond to reports of the odor, but the source of the smell eluded them for days. Officials say they've been in contact with industrial facilities and construction companies in the area to eliminate them as possible sources.

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City public works director James Rabe said they didn't believe the smell, despite being offensive, wasn't harmful.

As they continued their investigation this week, they told WLUK they think they may have finally identified a possible source of the pungent problem.

While they remain unsure that this is the cause, public works director James Rabe told WLUK TV they discovered a local industrial company recently changed something in their process within the last month that might be related to the smell.

Rabe said they've asked the company to stop this new process to see if the smell goes away. The company agreed, so now it's a bit of a waiting game to see if that was indeed the cause.

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He explained that it may take several days for the city's wastewater and sewer system to clear out to prove whether or not the industrial company's new process was the cause.

If it turns out not to be the case, city officials say they will continue their investigation with a hope of eliminating the smell as soon as possible.