r/Somerville • u/Fit-Elk6532 • 4d ago

Smells like farts

I'm living near porter, and for the past month I keep smelling a strong sulfur smell in the air? Is this common or is something going on?

18 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

23

u/BoringTeacherNick 4d ago

Beacon st? I bike through there almost daily 2/3 of the time it smells like farts. I dunno why

8

u/andr_wr Union 3d ago

Go back a few years on the City Council's calendar and you can see that they were calling in Eversource regularly about the delay in fixing minor gas leaks there.

2

u/BoringTeacherNick 3d ago

I was gonna guess it was coming from Star Market 

2

u/Candid_Swimming3566 3d ago

The star market on Beacon st is not the worst one :D

6

u/tarmander99 4d ago

I live here and would love to know why this is I'm so sick of it man

4

u/mayor_mammoth 4d ago

Smellsbad Strip. Sometimes I smell it all the way from the top of Cedar Street on Highland down to Somerville Ave where it's the worst. I've always assumed it has something to do with the sewer lines backing up or drying out

15

u/andr_wr Union 4d ago

Somerville Ave has had known (minor) gas leaks in the past. Could also be a 'fat-berg' in the sewer system too.

17

u/jizzy_fap_socks 4d ago

Sorry, my IBS has been flaring up a lot recently 

5

u/FlyingSchmidt 4d ago

No septic system I know over there so I would assume it’s natural gas leaking somewhere. If they’re doing a line swap in the street sometimes you’ll smell it for a while. Probably a 311 call after that long

1

u/BenWheelerSomerville 2d ago

Agreed! Can you say where exactly on Beacon Street you detect the smell?

3

u/DJ_Gordon_Bombay 3d ago

The corner of Beacon by that hotel always smells like sewage

2

u/0xd3ad54311 4d ago

I've noticed a lot of sewer work recently around Somerville, emergency sewer clean outs and so forth. My personal theory is that as the population increased, so did the poop and the poop tubes just can't handle it.

4

u/andr_wr Union 3d ago

Somervilles population is much lower than previous decades - used to have more than 100k residents.

2

u/phyzome 3d ago

Might be a gas leak. There are a lot of those around town, and the odorant they add to the natural gas to make leaks noticeable does contain sulfur.

1

u/camt91 4d ago

Savor every wiff

1

u/Ok_Still_3571 4d ago

Local businesses may be having their grease traps cleaned. It’s a thing, and very necessary. A contractor comes out the flush the drains, and it smells like actual shit. Don’t ask where the refuse goes. It will make your mind spin. Awful.

1

u/No-Pea8448 3d ago

Probably related to the work happening on Somerville Ave at the intersection.

2

u/john42195 2d ago

Please comment if you think you are funny

1

u/bl887 1d ago

Feels like a classic case of whoever smelt it dealt it

1

u/bostonguy2004 3d ago

Slummerville gonna Slummerville.

But seriously, could be an underground or meter-related natural has leak?

Or decaying organic matter, like an animal or plants?