Strong odor in Owasso came from truck in Catoosa, ONG reports

CATOOSA, Okla. — Owasso police reported receiving hundreds of calls about a strong gas like smell around town, which Oklahoma Natural Gas confirmed originated about 10 miles away in Catoosa.

Catoosa Fire Chief Denus Benton said they responded to the reports, along with ONG, after calls started coming in from their citizens.

"We had a small response in the beginning, as more calls come in too, then that escalated up to somethings wrong, but quickly the first crew that went there found out what had taken place and so that dropped the seriousness off of the call," said Chief Benton.

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While the chief could not confirm the exact location the odor originated from, Benton said it occurred about two miles west of the Catoosa Fire Department when workers were servicing a tanker trailer that contained mercaptan.

Chief explained mercaptan is a safety additive used to give natural gas its distinctive odor, allowing people to detect gas leaks. While the smell can be overwhelming, Benton said the chemical poses no threat to public health in small doses.

"Unfortunately, even a little bit of this stuff goes a long ways," Benton said. “We had to make sure that it wasn’t a gas [leak] because when you get those odor calls, it’s usually a gas leak, and that responds us, it starts the gas company and sometimes even the police department to block off roads and stuff because we don’t know what it is.”

The incident marked the first time Catoosa has experienced this type of chemical release, Benton said.

"We've had here at the fire station probably six [calls], they're still going on because that stuff is so strong," Benton explained. "People go outside when they were inside and they go 'oh my goodness we've got a gas leak.'"

While many Catoosa neighbors told us they didn't smell anything, numerous Owasso residents reported smelling the strong sulfur odor on social media throughout the morning.

Oklahoma Natural Gas issued a statement clarifying that the odor originated from the tanker trailer incident in Catoosa, not from their natural gas infrastructure in Owasso.

Fire officials are still reviewing the incident to determine exactly what caused the mercaptan release from the industrial vehicle.