HARAHAN, La. - Residents in a certain area of the Jefferson Parish have been reporting a foul smell which has prompted local and state officials to try and figure out its source.
There are different theories on where this smell is coming from, including possibly the West Bank landfills or river barges. Whatever it is, people want to know what they're breathing.
"It's been a bad couple of mornings," Debbie Fontenot said. "Bad enough where if you leave a door open the house starts smelling."
"Kind of an acrid odor," Tim Ernst said. "Probably a chemical kind of release."
The smell, some say, has been around before. However, it's gotten worse and has occurred more frequently.
"The other night it was so bad it woke me up," said Paul Johnston.
Johnston, the Jefferson Parish Councilman of District 2, says he's received dozens of complaints about the stench. Even saying a Facebook page was created Tuesday that instantly got more than 400 members.
"I'm very concerned," he said. "The citizens are concerned. Yesterday we got like 50 calls. It's scary when you've got something so strong coming in and it's gagging you."
Local and state officials are looking into it, including the State Department of Environmental Quality.
"Our inspectors will go down and they'll use a handheld monitor to check for any kind of emission from different things, in particular Sulfur compounds," said Greg Langley. "Some are saying it's a chemical smell, some are saying it's a garbage smell. We're trying to zero in on it, we haven't been able to pinpoint it but we're not going to give up. We're still trying."
There are theories on the smell's source, but locating it has been a challenge.
"Personally we think it's coming from the chemical plants from St. Charles Parish," said Johnston. "It's like a needle in a haystack. It's hard to find it and it depends on which way the wind blows."
And as officials search for answers, residents hope something will be found so they can breathe a big sigh of relieve.
"We really need help," Ernst said. "We need somebody to stand up and help us out and find out the cause of the problem."
The smell is reported in the early morning hours and late at night, so the DEQ says it will be monitoring at those times to try and find the cause. They also add they wont stop until the smell is found.