Foul Smell Across West Los Angeles Was Actually Spill Of Odorant That's Added To Natural Gas

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The strong odor of natural gas reported by West LA residents was actually a spill of the odorant used to give usually-odorless gas its distinctive scent, Gas Co. officials said Thursday.

Reports of a possible gas leak started coming in at about 9:10 p.m. Wednesday, sending Southern California Gas crews to the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Overland Avenue to investigate, SoCal Gas spokeswoman Melissa Bailey said.

"SoCalGas crews discovered the source of the odor was a natural gas odorant spill at a small independent oil and natural gas production facility in the West Los Angeles area. The spill has been cleaned up," Bailey said in a statement. "Any residual odor is expected to dissipate gradually over the next several hours."

The odor of natural gas was reported throughout the West Los Angeles area, from Venice into the Santa Monica Mountains.

The utility's crews determined there was no gas leak, but discovered the source of the smell to be a natural gas odorant spill at Hillcrest Beverly Oil Corp., at 10310 W. Pico Boulevard. The odorant was apparently leaking from a barrel.

"Natural gas is odorless, and as a safety precaution, a distinctive odor is added to it so most people can easily notice its presence," Bailey said.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)