What’s that smell? Officials trace natural gas odor sweeping across state back to Iowa

A widespread natural gas odor reported by residents of Lake and McHenry counties, as well as other parts of northern Illinois, is being attributed to equipment maintenance in Cedar County, Iowa, officials say.

The Clinton County, Iowa, Sheriff’s Office and DeWitt Fire Department in DeWitt, Iowa, on Tuesday morning responded to several reports of a natural gas-like smell in and around U.S. Route 61 and DeWitt. While law enforcement and fire personnel detected the odor, they were not able to identify its source at the time of the calls, according to Clinton County Sheriff Bill Greenwalt.

The odor continued to drift east throughout the day. By 2:15 p.m., the Ogle County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois posted an alert that it was receiving numerous calls about the smell of natural gas.

Lake County Sheriff's Deputy Chief Chris Covelli said Wednesday the agency responded to a number of calls reporting an obvious odor of natural gas. The calls were widespread throughout the county, with the majority received between 5 and 11 p.m.

Sheriff's police and various agencies alerted Nicor Gas of each of the locations and crews were dispatched to investigate, Covelli said.

The information received from authorities was that the smell originated in Iowa and was non-hazardous to those smelling it throughout Lake County, he added.

Libertyville Fire Chief Mike Pakosta said the department received five calls related to the smell of natural gas outside. A total of 15 calls from surrounding communities came in between 4 and 7 p.m.

“We were able to get something out on our social media sites pretty quickly,” Pakosta said. “So did most other departments. That certainly helped reduce the number of calls.”

DeKalb County residents also reported smelling natural gas, DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan said Tuesday evening. He said the sheriff’s office had dispatched emergency crews to investigate.

The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office also has been in contact with Alliant Energy, which reported receiving several complaints regarding the odor.

Iowa officials said any resident who detects an odor of natural gas or liquid propane in or around their property or residence should not hesitate to call 911.

However, police in McHenry have told residents they don’t need to call 911 if it’s merely because they smell the odor outside.

“There is no known gas leak in our area and no known danger to residents. Due to wind speed/direction/temperature, the odor is believed to be traveling to us from Iowa. There is no need to call 911 to report the odor alone. Call 911 if you can smell the odor inside your home and/or exhibit symptoms,” McHenry police said in an email alert.

McHenry police put out two alerts Tuesday, at 5:17 p.m. and 6:02 p.m., asking residents to quit calling.

* Daily Herald staff writer Mick Zawislak contributed to this report.