Rotten-egg odor from Salton Sea prompts air quality warning

[Judi Lynn]

Rotten-egg odor from Salton Sea prompts air quality warning
By Veronica Rocha
September 17, 2014, 3:16 PM

Increased level of hydrogen sulfide in the Salton Sea this week -- marked by the tell-tale "rotten eggs" odor -- prompted officials to issue an air quality warning for the Coachella Valley..

Hourly concentration averages of hydrogen sulfide reached 106 parts per billion Monday night, far exceeding the state standard of 30 parts per billion, officials reported.

Citing the elevated levels, the South Coast Air Quality Management District issued an odor advisory Tuesday, warning residents they could experience headaches and nausea.

Officials said shifting winds could have pushed the rotten-egg odor to the community of Mecca and the Coachella Valley.

The 376-square-mile body of water has been long known for its potential to produce the odor. In 2012, air quality officials tied the odor to dead fish in the sea.

More:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rotten-egg-odor-salton-sea-20140917-story.html

[Cleita]

1. Volcanic activity?

Sulfur smells like rotten eggs.

[procon]

2. There are several volcanos around the Salton Sea area

which sits on top of a large magma lake. I think officials use the fish die-off story so as not to alarm the public, but it could also be attributed to a release of volcanic gases as a prelude to potential earthquake activity, a frequent occurrence in that area.

[Cleita]

3. It's the first thing I thought of considering California has quite a bit of

volcanic geology that many of the residents aren't aware of.

[mrdmk]

4. Oh where do I start, did a self-study of the area!

1) The Salton Sink is major seismic zone with the San Andreas Fault going right down the middle of the lake. San Jacinto Fault and Imperial Fault Zone are in the area. There are three geothermal power plants on the east side of the lake that run on steam from volcanic activity below the ground. The place is surrounded by mountains, very tall mountains. The place is a geological study in itself.

link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salton_Sea

2) Salton Sea is a cesspool of an environmental disaster. First it was an engineering accident that sent flood waters from the Colorado River through the desert into the Salton Sink Zone. Mexico did us no favors by pouring industrial toxins into the New River. Also, there is Agriculture Irrigation Practices which are a major problem.

link: http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/salton/SaltonCountdownToCollapse.html





Every time I have been there, the place just stunk to high heaven...

[Cleita]

5. Thanks. It's very interesting to know this. I was never

impressed by the place. I remember it being man made.
It seems to have been a favorite place in the fifties for Hollywood to film B grade sci fi movies. I remember many Saturday matinees wasted on them.

[nruthie]

6. Nothing odd about that.

The place is nothing more than a vast cesspool. It was created by a man-made disaster and it will always be nothing but a reeking foul watery pit full of dead fish. It is a totally dead body of stagnant sewage with no fresh water intake. A testament to man's folly that no-body can quite figure out how to deal with.