OPEN LETTER TO MISSION VIEJO MAYOR FRANK URY

UPDATE: Response Received From the City
I just received a response from Jerry Hill, Public Services Operations Manager for the City of Mission Viejo. He says:

"We can absolutely help by once again turning off the recycled irrigation on city owned landscapes.
We will begin turning of our systems today and will keep the recycled irrigation water off until Sunday night / Monday morning.
We have been in communications with SMWD and will continue to encourage resolution of the Oso Reservoir anaerobic situation as soon as possible."

Mr. Hill, thank you for helping to ease the suffering from symptoms of this "anaerobic situation". Now, let's keep the pressure on SMWD to get the CAUSE fixed once and for all.

I just sent the letter below via email to Mayor Ury, the City Council, and the Public Works department. Feel free to copy, paste, and send it to them, too.
Mayor Ury - fury@cityofmissionviejo.org
City Council - cityadmin@cityofmissionviejo.org
Public Works - publicworks@cityofmissionviejo.org
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Dear Mayor Ury, et al:

On behalf of your constituents in northern Mission Viejo, I am asking for your help in easing our suffering from the incredibly pungent sulphur smell coming from the Upper Oso Reservoir. I am urging you to take whatever action necessary to recommend suspension of the irrigation again for as long as possible. Although the SMWD and other specialists are working to correct the problem, hundreds of Mission Viejo residents are forced to endure the malodorous side effects because the Reservoir feeds the irrigation lines that water public and median areas in northern Mission Viejo.

After last week's City Council meeting, Mission Viejo agreed to stop irrigation of the public spaces for three days in order to help ease the terrible smell that lingers throughout the northern Mission Viejo neighborhoods and it seemed to make a noticeable difference. Then the irrigation began over the weekend and the foul smell of rotten eggs and feces returned. This stench stays all night, penetrating our homes and in the morning, the smell is still there, just as pungent.

One of the aspects that I and so many of your other constituents love about living in Mission Viejo, one of the safest cities in the United States, is that we can enjoy our neighborhoods and the mild climate we are so fortunate to have here. Families can leave windows and screen doors open in the evenings for fresh breezes and overnight instead of eating up electricity with A/C units running all night. People could enjoy walking and jogging through their neighborhoods in the mornings or the evenings. But with this terrible rotten egg smell not only lingering outside, but suffocating us in our homes, we cannot enjoy any of these cherished aspects of Mission Viejo life.

If you are in doubt about just how acrid this smell is or simply have not had the opportunity to personally experience what whole neighborhoods must suffer through every night and every morning for the past two+ weeks, I strongly encourage you to drive through the Pinecrest area (Marguerite and Santa Margarita Pkwy) between 10pm and 9am. You only need to drive through with your windows down to get a sense for what many neighborhoods full of people are living with inside their own homes because of this issue.

Feel free to also visit my blog post about this issue and read the 160+ comments left by Mission Viejo residents who are dealing with this issue on a daily basis. The blog post URL is http://finkythekid.blogspot.com/2009/10/smell-that-ensnared-mission-viejo.html

Again, I urge you to PLEASE help your fellow Mission Viejo residents by whatever means necessary while SMWD continues to resolve the algae issue. Any further pressure you can apply to SMWD to continue making the resolution of this issue a priority is also greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and assistance.

Best Regards,

Ryan Fink
Concerned Mission Viejo Resident

Stench Rally at Mission Viejo City Hall! (Mission Viejo STILL Stinks!)

ATTENTION ALL:

There will be a rally at the Mission Viejo City Hall on THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12th at 4pm to demonstrate to our elected officials how badly we need their attention and assistance in resolving this issue. Tell your friends! Tell your neighbors! The more people that show up, the more they will understand this isn't just five or six people "complaining" about a pesky smell.

City Hall is located at:
200 Civic Center
Mission Viejo, CA 92691
(across from the Library)

While I would really like to be there, my work schedule isn't going to permit me. But I strongly urge EVERYONE reading this to attend, if possible. It obviously doesn't stink down i nthat part of Mission Viejo, so at least take the opportunity to breathe some "fresh air"!

And a big thanks to the Anonymous poster who first proposed this rally. They can ignore emails, but they can't ignore bodies!

Mission Viejo - still smells!

Well, it still stinks in Mission Viejo and in a 3-5 mile radius around the Upper Oso Reservoir. The City of Mission Viejo says they have stopped the common area sprinklers that are fed from the Reservoir, which seems to have eased a little bit of the Stench, but it's still wafting heavily in the evenings and mornings.

KTLA was out Tuesday night covering the story and stopped by to interview a few locals, including myself:
http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/watch/?watch=a38197e5-23a8-4982-bab5-67e512d78ec3&src=front

I recognize that action is bein gtaken, but there are still soe questiosn left unanswered. Namely, how can SMWD continue to insist the fumes are "not harmful" to humans when they have not yet publiclly identified what the gas creating the Stench is. They've taken readings and determined - SOMEHOW - that there's no presence of hydrogen sulfide coming from the Reservoir. Funny, b/c there's definitely a strong sulfur component to the Stench.

Seems odd to tell people the gas is "harmless' when you haven't been able to positively identify what the gas is, right?

The Smell That Ensnared MIssion Viejo Continued (PART III)

UPDATE 2 : City of Mission Viejo posted video of the City Council Meeting last night. Skip to 58:00 into it to bypass the Closed Session. John Schatz, SMWD General Manager speaks shortly after they begin the public comments.
http://missionviejo.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=4&clip_id=398

UPDATE 1 : There's a new article on the Register website
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/oxygen-water-ferons-2634663-lake-reservoir

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Yes, the smell continues in Mission Viejo for yet another day.

Just wanted to post a big "THANK YOU" to everyone here who has helped make their voices heard about the STENCH that continues to haunt our neighborhood.

Not just here, but in places that really count like calling newsrooms, emailing reporters, contacting the SMWD and City of Mission Viejo, etc. It's unfortunate that the Stench still persists, but I feel like there is progress being made now that our voices are being heard.

Just curious, was anyone able to attend the MV City Council meeting last night? Would like to hear from anyone who did.

Although I cannot access the site from work, I do get updates from the City of Mission Viejo site (linked to in my Part II post) and I saw this message from a "caring soul" (I've edited it for content):

"Wow. What a bunch of hysterical SoCal pXXXXs--all of them with their little panties in a knot because a natural process in a lake nearby has resulted in an odor for a couple of days. I really love the woman who plays the "I'M PREGNANT!" card immediately. So? You're pregnant. Biology works again! Ease up, dipXXX, your precious little baby is fine."

Gee, thanks for the thougtful words from someone who is OBVIOUSLY not affected by this smell. Now, go back to your bridge underpass, troll. If I could access this page on the Mission Viejo City's site, I'd post a response to his dumbass.

The Smell That Ensnared Mission Viejo PART II

UPDATE #2 : As I posted in the comments in my original
post, there's a Mission Viejo City Council Meeting TONIGHT at 6pm at the civic center (where the Library is). Should we make our presence known? Just a thought...

UPDATE : 6:13pm - Nope, it came back. BARF!!

Halloween has come and gone, but in Saddleback, The Stench still lingers!

Thanks for all the feedback in the previous post below. It's good to know I'm not alone and crazy and that so many other people are making calls and sending emails to the City, SMWD, and news outlets to help spread the word about what is going on. It's amazing that SMWD and Mission Viejo had scant mentions of this stinky phenomenon until days after it had become incredibly noticeable (that's putting it nicely.)

Thanks in no short part to people who've commented here, it looks like there's not at least a litte bit of info on the Web about this, though it seems there's a few different stories out there. One rumor includes a broken sewer pipe causing the algae bloom.

Posts on The Stench of '09:
City of Mission Viejo (leave comments!): http://tinyurl/ykaz739
OC Register:
http://sciencedude.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/01/algae-bloom-causes-bad-smell-in-mission-viejo-area/66177/

Keep making those calls and sending emails on Monday.

And, let's be sure to remind any elected officials that Tuesday is election day. I know there aren't any huge races in MV (what about RSM?), but perhaps it'll at least remind them we are people, too. And we vote.

Uh oh, sundown. CLOSE YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS!!

The Smell That Ensnared Mission Viejo

UPDATE

November 11, 2009 - It's RALLY TIME, people! See the newest post for details: http://finkythekid.blogspot.com/2009/11/stench-rally-at-mission-viejo-city-hall.html

The Santa Margarita Water District is supposed to have an update this afternoon (10/30) on their progress for correcting the "algael bloom" and how long until we can go outside again without it smelling like a giant rotten egg. Check http://www.smwd.com/ or call them:
949-459-6420 (Business hours)
949-361-6294 (After hours)

Hit the "Samuel L. Bronkowitz" title at the top of this page to take you to the other updates on the main page of this blog.

Mission Viejo, CA stinks. I mean, it reeks to high heaven. There is a sulphurous odor so malignant and intrusive, it has enveloped the neighborhood and penetrated the walls of my house for nearly 48 hours.

My first encounter with the mysterious malodor occured as my wife and I drove home two nights ago. Turning through the intersection at El Toro and Rancho Santa Margarita Pkwy, the air inside our car suddenly became infused with a putrid sulphur smell. Sometimes there seems to be pockets of this nasty smell in various places we drive through and we figured it'd pass. Unfortunately, the smell only intensified the further we drove. Now approaching the intersection of Rancho Santa Margarita and Maguerite Pkwy, the stench was nearly overwhelming.

We pulled into our garage and quickly closed the door, hoping to keep the foul rotten egg smell from invading out house, only to find the inside of the house smelled almost as bad as the neighborhood around us.

"Oh my god," my wife exclaimed, "this smell is TERRIBLE!"

And, indeed it was. Like an invisible Fog of rotting putricity, this sudden, terrible odor had settled upon our neighborhood and invaded our home. I felt bad for our cats who had to be there with it the whole day.

"But, what do I do?" I wondered aloud.

If you want to report a crime, you call the police. A medical emergency or fire? Call 9-1-1. But what do you do when there's an outrageously offensive odor covering at least a square mile of public and private land? I was at a loss. So, I took to the internet.

But I found nothing about it on the mews, the local paper, or an extensve Google search. What could possibly be causing this incredibly bad smell? Settling into bed coughing and trying to ignore the sulphur smell that hung in the room, I figured, maybe there'd be something about it on the news or internet the next morning.

Better yet, maybe it'll blow away in the night.

Nope.

The next morning, it was still bad. When we got home that night, STILL horrible. I took to the internet again, but this time found a new story from several years ago about a "sulphur" smell that cropped up in another part of the County. It said "to report an odor call the Orange County Water & Santitation district." Perfect!

Unfortunately, the OCWSD serves only part of the County- and not the part I live in. But, they were able to direct me to my water provider -Santa Margarita Water District. NOW, we were getting somewhere. I called SMWD and got their after-hours answering service, who was well aware of the problem from the volume of calls they were getting, but had no idea what was causing it either.

The following morning (the third day now!) the sulphur stench still swallowed the neighborhood. So, I called SMWD back and finally - an answer!

An "algae bloom" in the Upper Oso Reservoir (about 1/2 mile north of my house.) Apparently, the oxygen levels were incredibly low, which gave rise to an (anaerobic?) algae, which was now going gangbusters and sending this ridiculously bad smell into neighboring developments.

Sadly, this story has no ending yet in sight. Although SMWD is responsible for maintaining the Reservoir and is actively working on the algae problem. At this time (1pm on 10/30/09) they did not have an estimate for how long it would take for the smell to dissipate permanently. SMWD said that they are doign something to churn the water in the reservoir which will help re-oxygenate it and get rid of the algae, but that was all the specifics they could give me on the "solution." They did advise that the common green areas in that part of Mission Viejo are fed by water from the Reservoir, so that will continue to perpetuate the stench until the water is cleansed.


So, there you have it.


Anybody else out there smelling this horrible, horrible smell?