PT Odor ReportsAbout this project
Port Townsend residents are partnered with the AGU Thriving Earth Exchange on Community-Led Sulfur Pollution Assessment: Monitoring Blueprint and Policy Strategy. The project addresses community concerns about sulfur air pollution from the Port Townsend Paper Corporation mill by interpreting existing science and developing a practical plan for future monitoring and policy engagement. Over 12 to 18 months the team is producing two things: a regulatory proposal residents can take to the Washington State Department of Ecology and state legislators, and a technical blueprint for a low-cost community sulfur-monitoring network. This website is one community tool for the project: it lets neighbors report odors they experience so those reports become part of the shared record.
Working with the Thriving Earth Exchange
A 2024 study by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry found fourteen sulfur compounds in the air around the mill — far more than the four that Washington's Department of Ecology currently regulates. The study documented acute respiratory effects, but its recommendations for broader monitoring were never acted on, even as new housing and an emergency shelter are being built close to the mill.
Community leaders Derek Firenze and Jaime Duyck are working with atmospheric scientists Haroula Baliaka (Caltech) and Dr. Edmund Seto (University of Washington), with Aara'L Yarber serving as Community Science Fellow. Kelly Beile, a digital experience designer, created the ptodor.org website.
Partnering with other community groups
This project works in coalition with other community groups, including Citizens for Safe Water and Air, Port Townsend. Reports collected here are shared with those partners so the community has one shared picture of when and where odors are happening.
How you can help
Report an odor whenever you notice one, even if you have reported before. Repeat reports are what build the record.
Share this site with neighbors so more of the community is represented.