Residents complain of 'rotten fish' smell in Santa Rosa, Florida

Area residents are complaining on social media about a strange smell that stretches from Pace to Gulf Breeze and the beaches. But local officials can't confirm what the smell is or where it's coming from.

"We haven't had any reports of any issues," said Joy Tsubooka, the public information officer for Santa Rosa County. "It's hard to say what it is because on very clear, very cold days like this, odors can travel very far."

Residents have described the stench as smelling like spoiled milk and dead fish.

"Why does it smell of rotten fish all over #Pensacola this morning?" one resident asked on Twitter.

"Man it smells bad outside," Pensacola beach resident Sean Rogan posted on his Facebook page. "They were talking about a nonhazardous gas that had Pace smelling yesterday. Guess north wind has brought it to us."

After Rogan's post, people from Santa Rosa County and parts of Escambia reported smelling the odor.

Gulf Breeze officials have fielded several calls from residents complaining about the smell and inquiring about the source, City Clerk Stephanie Lucas said.

"It's nothing we're doing ... or from us," she said. "People are smelling it all down the highway (U.S. 98)."

Tsubooka ruled out possible sources such as the Taminco gas supplier plant in Pace, and Tiffany Cowie, press secretary for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, said the smell definitely wasn't caused by the oil leak that erupted Wednesday in Jay.

"The smells (residents are describing) are not consistent with the smells coming from the oil leak at the actual site," Cowie said. "The odor isn't coming from there."

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