By David B. Caruso
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Environmental officials in two states said they have given up hope of finding the source of a mysterious odor that swept across parts of the New York City area a week ago.
New Jersey officials said they checked out more than 140 industrial facilities in the northern part of the state to see whether they were responsible for the smell that drifted up the Hudson River on Jan. 8.
The inquiry didn’t turn up any unusual emissions, said Elaine Makatura, a spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.
New York City officials analyzed air samples taken when the invisible vapors lingered over the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island boroughs and also came up empty.
“We have done the extensive lab analysis, and there is nothing conclusive as to a particular chemical signature from the samples we took,” said Charles Sturcken, a spokesman for the city’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Unless the bad smell returns, the city is finished with the matter, Sturcken said.
Officials in both states began their inquiries the morning of Jan. 8, when people on Staten Island began calling authorities to complain about a pungent smell that some feared was leaking natural gas.
Within minutes, similar complaints were being called in across the harbor in Manhattan, then farther north. People in two New Jersey counties were reporting the smell by 11 a.m. Then it dissipated.