Consumers Energy and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality officials continue to investigate the source of the odor that crept across downtown Jackson two weeks ago.
Mike Maillard, district engineer in the Jackson office of the DEQ’s Air Quality Division, has been trying to figure out the source of what smelled like natural gas since it was detected Sept. 30.
“We’re interfacing with Consumers urging them to further investigate the cause of it,” Maillard said.
The odor wafted across downtown Jackson from about 7 to 8 a.m. that day. During his preliminary investigation, Maillard found that the odor did not come from OmniSource or any other place in the area that could have emitted the odor.
Maillard said he thinks the odor could have emanated from Consumers’ natural gas distribution center in downtown Jackson.
“The localized impact indicates the potential is still at (the distribution center),” he said.
The center was the source of a natural gas leak May 26 that caused McCulloch Academy of Technology & Science to be evacuated, according to a DEQ report.
Consumers spokeswoman Deb Dodd said there was a small piece of equipment on the machine that had a faulty seal. That problem has since been fixed.
The downtown distribution center decreases the pressure of the natural gas so it can be distributed downtown, according to the DEQ’s report. If there is a buildup of pressure in the system, the excess gas is released through a vent into the atmosphere.
Maillard said he thinks the recent odor came from the distribution center because both May and September odors shared similarities. Each odor was centered downtown, he said. Also on those days, there was little wind, which would have dispersed the odor.
Maillard said there was not enough gas released in May to cause health problems or pose other risks — it’s a nuisance more than anything. Since natural gas does not inherently have a smell to it, methyl mercaptan is added to alert people that the gas is present.
Dodd said there are no records of natural gas being released from their system Sept. 30. She said the facility is monitored by Consumers crews. A machine charts data and is checked at least once a week, she said.
If there was a problem, “the system would notify us,” Dodd said. Natural gas “shouldn’t have escaped unmonitored,” she said.
According to her reports, the smell was reported as hot metal or hot brakes.
Maillard said he is working with Consumers’ environmental division to further investigate if the center could have been the source.
Regardless of where the September odor came from, Maillard said there should be a different system to discharge the gas that does not emit into the atmosphere.
“What happens if a larger buildup occurs and more natural gas is released?” he asked. “It’s a wake-up call to change the system.”