Smell in downtown Wichita most likely natural gas additive

If you were downtown Monday morning and sniffed a strong odor that made you exclaim “eww-ww,” it might have been mercaptan.

No complaints were logged with the city of Wichita’s Public Works and Utilities, but the strong foul smell resembled burning rubber or tar and was sniffed as far east as Crown Heights and as far west as Century II.

Don Henry, assistant director of Public Works and Utilities, sent sniffers into downtown Wichita, and they indeed discovered the odd smell.

Henry said the smell might was most likely caused by Kansas Gas Service, which was working on lines in downtown Wichita and purging the lines.

“If it is strong and pungent, that’s probably what you are smelling,” Henry said.

Because natural gas is odorless, mercaptan is often added to give the gas a smell. Mercaptan is often described as smelling like sulfur or rotten eggs.

This story was originally published October 7, 2014 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Smell in downtown Wichita most likely natural gas additive."