Sequim residents, what smells lately? (Port Angeles, Port Townsend: how much, Home Depot, transfer)

[DufusLutefisk]

It seems that at least half a dozen times in the last month I've walked out my front door in the morning and have been greeted by a smell most similar to mill stench. Yes, THAT smell you can get approaching Port Townsend. Not quite sewage, not quite industrial farm fertilizer, not quite carcinogenic chemicals, but more like the worst combination of the lot. It hasn't been overpowering, but it's there.
Am I the only one?

[Ruth4Truth]

Pulp and paper mills are the main thing that ruins the pleasure of rural or small-town living: seemingly idyllic locations are rendered uninhabitable for some people. It's a crying shame.

Frankly, it makes me think about how much we take for granted, in terms of the availability of consumer goods like paper. It's our all-consuming demand for paper, so that we can fill Xerox machines to use at cheap cost (in some European countries, 25c - 50c/copy page is charged, compared to virtually nothing in the US), fill our printers in our home offices, produce piles of free catalogs that come, mostly unwanted, in the mail, that at the root of this problem, not to mention--the failing salmon runs, the starvation of the Orcas and other whales that depend on the salmon and other food in the marine ecosystem, etc. Generations of dumping industrial waste from the mill in PA and Pt T into the Strait and Puget Sound (to mention just a couple of sources), is gravely threatening nature's abundance, and ultimately, us, ourselves.

[Hemlock140]

I guess you hadn’t heard that McKinley Paper just started operating again in Port Angeles. It sounds like the wind is blowing your way.

[DufusLutefisk]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

I guess you hadn’t heard that McKinley Paper just started operating again in Port Angeles. It sounds like the wind is blowing your way.

I had read that, and initially that was my prime suspect. However, the wind this AM was not from that direction, and it's 15 (?) miles away from Sequim. Hard to believe the stench could travel that far. But I've only been here 4 years, so I can't say what odors may have wafted this way when that mill last operated. I was hoping a longtime resident might chime in, or at least see if anyone else is smelling what I am. A couple of neighbors have agreed there may have been a new stink in town, but couldn't identify it. To me, it is most definitely mill-reek.

[MechAndy]

My daughter lives on our Sequim property.
I talk with her several times each week.
She is dealing with contractors for us.

5 of our CA life long friends live there as well.
That means 5 families that I’ve known since they were in diapers.
This is the first I have heard about a paper mill smell in Sequim.
I am shocked.
I know that smell and hate it.
It’s just foul.

One of our best friends has 14 acres on the road to Hurricane Ridge.
A couple of our friends live in the Dungeness area,
A couple live up the hill from Home Depot.
And then there are our neighbors that we have made friends with.

Never heard of this.
I find it quite alarming.
Where are these smells located?
We can’t smell this stink nor can our friends.
Is this smelly area in Sequim proper or does this reach just south of PA?

We are 20 plus (south east) minutes away from Down town Sequim.
Never smelt anything fowl.

Where are you smelling this from?

Thank you.
Andy.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

My daughter lives on our Sequim property.
I talk with her several times each week.
She is dealing with contractors for us.

5 of our CA life long friends live there as well.
That means 5 families that I’ve known since they were in diapers.
This is the first I have heard about a paper mill smell in Sequim.
I am shocked.
I know that smell and hate it.
It’s just foul.

One of our best friends has 14 acres on the road to Hurricane Ridge.
A couple of our friends live in the Dungeness area,
A couple live up the hill from Home Depot.
And then there are our neighbors that we have made friends with.

Never heard of this.
I find it quite alarming.
Where are these smells located?
We can’t smell this stink nor can our friends.
Is this smelly area in Sequim proper or does this reach just south of PA?

We are 20 plus (south east) minutes away from Down town Sequim.
Never smelt anything fowl.

Where are you smelling this from?

Thank you.
Andy.

Yes, I'm a little confused, as well. For years, this forum has been recommending Sequim, and to a lesser extent--Port Angeles, to retirees and others, and a mill stench has never been mentioned. Should we stop recommending Sequim, or include a caveat about the nearby mill? Is it a case, like Pt T, where the fumes usually blow out into the Strait, but when the wind shifts, everyone gets nailed with the foul air?

More discussion needed.

[pikabike]

PA is 15 miles from Sequim. PT is 35 miles from Sequim, and when the mill stink is bad the wind is blowing it north-northwest, more across the Strait of Juan de Fuca than west along it. Look at the topography, and it will be clear why blaming the PT mill for this one is erroneous.

Or everyone can run around like a chicken with its head cut off.

[Hemlock140]

My mistake, McKinley paper mill in Port Angeles planned to open this month but they have not yet completed the $6.1 million expansion there. It’s now expected to open in December 2019.
I suppose the smell in Sequim could have been from some testing of equipment or training of new workers, but could be something else. Perhaps an especially stinky load of trash at the Blue Mountain Transfer station and a wind just happened to pick it up.

It’s yet to be seen whether the new PA mill will stink up the area:

https://www.waste360.com/business/mc...hington-reopen

[dcisive]

Gee I guess I'm glad my potential move to the area didn't pan out.

[DufusLutefisk]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

My daughter lives on our Sequim property.
I talk with her several times each week.
She is dealing with contractors for us.

5 of our CA life long friends live there as well.
That means 5 families that I’ve known since they were in diapers.
This is the first I have heard about a paper mill smell in Sequim.
I am shocked.
I know that smell and hate it.
It’s just foul.

One of our best friends has 14 acres on the road to Hurricane Ridge.
A couple of our friends live in the Dungeness area,
A couple live up the hill from Home Depot.
And then there are our neighbors that we have made friends with.

Never heard of this.
I find it quite alarming.
Where are these smells located?
We can’t smell this stink nor can our friends.
Is this smelly area in Sequim proper or does this reach just south of PA?

We are 20 plus (south east) minutes away from Down town Sequim.
Never smelt anything fowl.

Where are you smelling this from?

Thank you.
Andy.

I'm located just north of Sequim city limits. I suppose of the friends locations you had listed Dungeness would be closest.
Just to reiterate, the smell has never been overpowering (like nearby the PT mill on a bad day), nor has it lingered, but that same unique stench was insulting my nose. Believe me, I hope as the days/months/years/my life goes by I never smell it outside my door again and y'all can call me crazy.