MINERSVILLE - The borough is trying to determine the cause of an oil odor that is troubling residents in the 400 block of North Street.
"We've been up there a couple times," Minersville police Chief Michael Combs said Friday. "Neighbors complained about some kind of oil smell and when our code people went up there, it wasn't overwhelming but you could smell something."
Combs, along with borough Manager Joseph Bass, said that the fire and police departments have also been looking for the cause, but at this point, "They have not been able to ascertain where it is coming from."
One resident even called the fire department to have fans put in to try to remove the odor.
"We have some suspicions what it might be but so far, we haven't been able to confirm it," Combs said.
Combs said there are some vacant homes in the area and borough officials think there could be an oil leak in one of those homes, so they are contacting the owners to have them checked.
"We haven't had any oil making its way down to the sewer plant, so it's not a big spill because we would see that," he said.
The borough is suggesting there could be a small amount of oil that has gotten into the ground and is following the sewer lines, and the odor is coming up through drains in the basements of nearby homes.
"The other thing is it could have been an old leak that the oil finally got through the cracks in the concrete and is following underground," Bass said.
Combs said if that is the case, then the leak may have been fixed but the oil still has to follow a path until it finally dissipates.
None of the places where the borough has investigated has had an oil leak.
"What we've been trying to do is go around to the different places and check, so it could be an occupied place and they have a leak and don't even know it," Combs said. "It's a dilemma because we have a general area where this smell is but where do you go from there, and we are trying to address it."
The investigation into the problem is ongoing. For now, people are asked to check their homes for any oil leaks and call the borough office at 570-544-2149 if the problem is affecting them.
