The municipality received multiple complaints about an unpleasant odour in Groningen and Haren on Friday.
Translation by Traci White
The Groninger Internet Courant reports that residents of several different neighbourhoods in the city of Groningen reported smelling something foul, but the municipality has not yet been able to determine the source of the offending odour.
The municipality of Groningen’s spokesperson Peter Duzink contacted the city’s waste disposal companies – Stainkoeln, which is located on the Winschoterweg, and Attero, which is on the Duinkerkenstraat – but both companies said that there was nothing unusual going on at their facilities. Dagblad van het Noorden writes that Gruno Recycling and water management company Noorderzijlvest were also contacted, but they do not appear to be the source of the stinky smell, either.
Complaints described the smell as being similar to rubbish, and people reported smelling it indoors and outdoors. One potential explanation was the sewer gas that emerges from dried out drain pipes, which is a more common occurrence during warmer weather, but Duzink also ruled that out. “Local environmental services say that all of the sewers have an odour trap, but even if there was one section that was not working, that would not explain why the smell was noticeable in different neighbourhoods”, Duzink told RTV Noord.
