DURYEA, Pa. — Duryea Mayor Jef Bauman says people are saying and smelling a lot. That's why he called the Department of Environmental Protection to investigate what is causing the stench.
"Monday, we were still smelling it, and I haven't smelt it, so I don't really have like a, oh, that was the moment. I really realized it was an issue. But as soon as more people started talking about it, I realized, wow, maybe we should contact somebody about this," said Mayor Jef BAuman, Duryea.
For the last several days, something smelly has been going on in Duryea.
After residents in the borough began to voice their concerns, Mayor Jef Bauman reached out to the Department of Environmental Protection to see what the big stink was all about.
"Put calls into our local DEP about the air quality; they found that there are some spots that smell a little bit more during the day," said Mayor Bauman.
While the mayor says there is no official cause for the smell right now, residents in Duryea suspect it could be anything from a nearby waste treatment plant or sulfur in mine water that runs off into the Lackawanna River.
"I don't know, I can't see it smelling the whole town up if it was mine water coming up from someplace, you know," said Paul Burke, Duryea.
Paul Burke has lived in Duryea his whole life and says the last few days have been a little smelly.
But he thinks the issue lies at a sewage treatment plant further downstream.
"To me, when you drive by the sewer plant down there, and you smell it. When you smell it, I mean there's no getting around that, that's what it smells like to me," said Burke.
"When we were traveling down towards Pittston way up over the viaduct in Duryea, it was a strong, sulfur smell," said Christa Murman, Duryea.
Christa Murman says she's never experienced this kind of smell before, "I mean, maybe with the change of season two in the weather, I know a lot of people say the rain, a lot of the rain, may have done something to affect something… it's been the last few days that I've noticed it."
Newswatch 16 reached out to the DEP about the smell in Duryea but has yet to hear back.
According to Mayor Bauman, the DEP referred him to its abandoned mine department. He is expecting a call back in the coming days.