It's been awhile since those mysterious smells wafted over Los Angeles, but Long Beach firefighters were dispatched this week to look for the cause of an unexplained "foul odor" that was widely sniffed across that city. The Press-Telegram reports the fire department typically receives calls of odors to check out every day, "but saw an increase in such calls early Wednesday." No answer was found, just like on July 29 when authorities received 93 calls within about an hour complaining about a "refinery-type odor." The City of Long Beach website is currently running a news topper:

CITYWIDE ODOR

The Long Beach Fire Department has announced that there is no specific source for the odor that has been reported across a large portion of the city. Historically, throughout the year, there are periods of days where exhaust or burn off fumes from the refineries in Wilmington are carried into Long Beach with the prevailing winds.

Residents are encouraged to call 1-800-cutsmog for an AQMD investigation. No medical assistance has been requested.

That's the way to blame neighboring L.A. — and to pass the buck to an agency that doesn't tap the city treasury. This stench, by the way, is not to be confused with the bad smell coming from the Noah's Ark Animal Rescue center in Long Beach that led to the discovery yesterday of eighteen animal carcasses in a freezer and 250 live cats and dogs kept under questionable conditions.

Previously on LA Observed:
Mystery of the stench deepens
NYC got a better stench
That stench is spreading
That Westside stench