UPDATE: Air Quality District Seeks Source of Stench in Redlands, Region

Update 1:27 p.m. The South Coast Air Quality Management District has field inspectors looking for possible causes of odors smelled from the San Gorgonio Pass to Redlands, Loma Linda and further west into Los Angeles County.

The district issued a statement Monday that included the following:

"Since around midnight last night, AQMD has received more than 100 calls reporting a strong, foul rotten egg/sulfur odor. Residents have complained from a very wide area including the Inland Empire and much of the Los Angeles Basin.

"Fish kills, algae blooms and other biologic conditions in lakes can cause strong odors. Industrial facilities such as wastewater plants also can cause sulfur odors. At this time AQMD hasn't confirmed any source as the cause of the widespread odor.

"AQMD will issue updated information later in the day if more information is available. AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties."

Update 11:17 a.m. The stench of rotten eggs or sulfur wafting through Redlands and Loma Linda was also evident Monday across southwest Riverside County in cities including Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and Murrieta.

A Lake Elsinore-Wildomar report on the smell .

Posted 10:27 a.m. Stench smelled from the Coachella Valley to Yucaipa, Mentone, Redlands and Loma Linda may be drifting west from the Salton Sea, Redlands Fire officials said Monday morning.

Some residents began noticing the smell Sunday Sept. 9.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District, the air pollution control agency for all of Orange County and the urban portions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, was closed Monday.

Redlands Fire Department dispatchers began telling residents Sunday night the smell may be from the Salton Sea.

More information about foul odors from the Salton Sea can be found at www.aqmd.gov/complain/saltonseaodor.

The Salton Sea, created by a man-made Colorado River flood in 1905, is fed by the Whitewater River and other desert washes. Lack of outflow and agricultural runoff have helped make the Salton Sea saltier than the Pacific Ocean.

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