Sulfur Smell Invades Wilshire

It had to happen: All that construction on the Miracle Mile has opened the gates to hell.

At least, that's what it smells like around Mid-Wilshire, where residents and employees in the area encountered a sulfur smell this morning. I caught it while driving into the parking basement of Variety's offices.

Here's some info from building management:

The sulphur smell is very pervasive and extensive: Up and down Wilshire Blvd. and south to Olympic Blvd. The cause may or may not be construction; there are several construction sites in the area, but so far nothing is definitive. They are monitoring the situation and will release a memo when more facts are known. As to the possibility of a potential health hazard, that's unknown at this time as well.

As you know, we're just steps from the La Brea Tar Pits... and this part of town is just rife with tar, methane and much, much more. (Tar oozes into the parking garage down below, but luckily doesn't reach our cars.)

At least we don't live with the smell every day. The 99 Cents Only store at the corner of Fairfax and 6th isn't so lucky -- it always smells like rotten eggs at that corner.

Although sulfur is blamed for the smell—, e.g. of rotten eggs— Wikipedia's entry on sulfur notes that "elemental sulfur has only the faintest odor (the odor associated with rotten eggs is actually due to hydrogen sulfide and organic sulfur compounds)."

By the way, I was just outside, and the smell seems to have mostly disappeared. Of course, I was too busy freezing to probably notice.