Odor

martinsburg@herald-mail.com If the squeaky wheel gets the grease, the people who work in Berkeley County Magistrate Court are hoping the stinky wheel gets the breeze. A breeze of fresh air, that is. Over years, a sewer-like smell has sporadically permeated the John Street courthouse, worsening allergies and causing dizziness, headaches and other problems, some say. To try to remedy the situation, 15 people who work in magistrate court, including magistrates, assistant prosecutors and clerks, came to the Berkeley County Commission meeting Thursday morning and asked that an emergency discussion be held.

Fire crews were called to the Waynesboro News Agency at 91 W. Main St. in Waynesboro Thursday night for an investigation of an odor, according to Steve Biesecker, a spokesman for the Waynesboro Fire Department. The source of the odor was found, but Biesecker said he could not comment on what it was. The Waynesboro Police Department is investigating the incident, Biesecker said. West Main Street was closed from the square to South Potomac Street while fire crews determined the source of the odor, Biesecker said.

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. -- An unidentifiable odor prompted an evacuation of Hedgesville High School at 8:20 a.m. on Wednesday, school officials said. School administration and the fire department checked the building and detected the odor was entering the building through the HVAC air handlers from an outside source, according to Berkeley County Schools spokewoman Leah Catlett. Students and staff were permitted to return to the building and resume instruction, Catlett said in a news release.

The 500 block of West Washington Street in Hagerstown was briefly closed to traffic Thursday while authorities investigated the odor of gas in a building, a Washington County Emergency Services dispatcher said. The dispatcher said the call came in at about 1:25 p.m. The street had reopened by 1:45 p.m. Further details were not immediately available.

Marshall Street School was evacuated Thursday morning because of a strange odor that smelled like smoke, though no smoke was found, Hagerstown Fire Capt. Justin Mayhue said. The call about the odor at the 1350 Marshall St. school for special education students came at 11:49 a.m., according to Washington County 911 dispatch. Mayhue said the school was evacuated for approximately 15 minutes.

Dozens of people were asked to wait outside Meritus Medical Center on Thursday afternoon while firefighters tried to determine the source of an odor of smoke. The source of the odor, originally detected in an operating room at about 12:20 p.m., was not found and people were allowed back into the building an hour after the initial call, Funkstown Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Dave Fraley said. There was an operation in progress when the odor was detected, but the procedure completed because staff did not feel there was any immediate danger, said Mary Rizk, director of corporate communications for Meritus Health.

An unknown odor which forced the relocation of personnel from Washington County Hospital's birthing center early this morning was traced to an old steam humidifier system with a leaky valve, hospital spokeswoman confirmed at 9:49 a.m. The odor prompted a response from Hagerstown firefighters and hazardous materials personnel, all trying to find out what it was and where it was coming from. The incident was first reported at 6:25 a.m. The investigation was concluded at 9:05 a.m. and turned over to hospital personnel.

By DAVE McMILLION Staff Writer, Martinsburg MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A dreadful stench led to the evacuation of about 30 workers from the Berkeley County Courthouse Friday afternoon. The trouble started as workers began repairing a drain pipe on a sink in the prosecutor's office. The pipe crumbled and out came "an awful smell," said Berkeley County Commission President Jim Smith. Courthouse workers were allowed to leave the building while Martinsburg Fire Department firefighters sprayed a deodorant to combat the collecting sewage gas, Smith said.

Penn State Extension and Star View Custom Farming will offer information about alternatives to manure surface application during a Spreading Challenges field day Tuesday, Aug. 2, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 9640 Anderson Road, Mercersburg. The event is free and refreshments will be served. In addition to an on-site field demonstration, and a question-and-answer session with a custom applicator, a full-scale odor analysis will be completed by Robin Brandt from The Pennsylvania State University and his odor-analysis team.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A burned-out fuse threw Martinsburg City Hall into darkness and forced the evacuation of several city employees Tuesday afternoon. Fire trucks blocked Queen Street shortly after 12:30 p.m. while firefighters tried to find the cause of the problem that knocked out power to an estimated 40 customers around the 200 block of Queen Street, including City Hall and the traffic signal at Queen and Race streets. Martinsburg Fire Chief Phil Martin said a fuse on a power pole near Spring and Burke streets burned out, causing a power reduction to parts of the downtown area.

An odor of smoke in South Hagerstown High School Monday afternoon was caused by a belt that overheated in an air-handling system, a Hagerstown Fire Department spokesman said. It took awhile to determine what was causing the smoke odor, said Battalion Chief Russell Grim. The odor was reported in the building at 3:42 p.m. and firefighters left the school at 5:50 p.m.

Dozens of people were asked to wait outside Meritus Medical Center on Thursday afternoon while firefighters tried to determine the source of an odor of smoke. The source of the odor, originally detected in an operating room at about 12:20 p.m., was not found and people were allowed back into the building an hour after the initial call, Funkstown Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Dave Fraley said. There was an operation in progress when the odor was detected, but the procedure completed because staff did not feel there was any immediate danger, said Mary Rizk, director of corporate communications for Meritus Health.

The 500 block of West Washington Street in Hagerstown was briefly closed to traffic Thursday while authorities investigated the odor of gas in a building, a Washington County Emergency Services dispatcher said. The dispatcher said the call came in at about 1:25 p.m. The street had reopened by 1:45 p.m. Further details were not immediately available.

An "odor scrubber" will be installed at Berkeley County Public Service Sewer District's wastewater treatment plant along Scrabble Road as part an ongoing effort to remove a persistent stench. Sewer district General Manager Curtis B. Keller said this week that he hopes to have the equipment installed where the sewage flows into the plant facility by this fall. The project, which could cost as much as $10,000 or more, comes after the sewer district tried less expensive options, including chemicals, to try to mitigate the odor, Keller said.

Penn State Extension and Star View Custom Farming will offer information about alternatives to manure surface application during a Spreading Challenges field day Tuesday, Aug. 2, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 9640 Anderson Road, Mercersburg. The event is free and refreshments will be served. In addition to an on-site field demonstration, and a question-and-answer session with a custom applicator, a full-scale odor analysis will be completed by Robin Brandt from The Pennsylvania State University and his odor-analysis team.

“The Washington County Board of Education’s recent decision to pay their new superintendent $190,000 plus $9,000 in car maintenance and gas shows a severe lack of critical thinking. According to 2009 figures, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley earns a little over $150,000 a year. That’s right. The county school superintendent makes more than the governor of Maryland. I would be interested in knowing the thought process (besides fleecing the taxpayers) that was behind this decision.” — Smithsburg “Brownsville, the ‘no count’ Republicans (to quote you)

Fire crews were called to the Waynesboro News Agency at 91 W. Main St. in Waynesboro Thursday night for an investigation of an odor, according to Steve Biesecker, a spokesman for the Waynesboro Fire Department. The source of the odor was found, but Biesecker said he could not comment on what it was. The Waynesboro Police Department is investigating the incident, Biesecker said. West Main Street was closed from the square to South Potomac Street while fire crews determined the source of the odor, Biesecker said.

HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown Police on Sunday were investigating the suspicious death of a woman in a neighborhood near Fairgrounds Park. The 911 call came in at 10:39 a.m. at 208 N. Cannon Ave., according to Washington County Emergency Services. The caller noticed an odor from the home, went in to check and found a deceased person, a 911 supervisor said. The young age of the woman has contributed to the police treating the case as a suspicious death, said Lt. Mike King with the Hagerstown Police Department.

HEDGESVILLE, W.Va. -- An unidentifiable odor prompted an evacuation of Hedgesville High School at 8:20 a.m. on Wednesday, school officials said. School administration and the fire department checked the building and detected the odor was entering the building through the HVAC air handlers from an outside source, according to Berkeley County Schools spokewoman Leah Catlett. Students and staff were permitted to return to the building and resume instruction, Catlett said in a news release.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - The Greencastle Borough Council unanimously voted Monday to ban outdoor furnaces in the borough in a move members say was in the interest of preserving the health, safety and welfare of its citzens. The council began debating the matter in September when Borough Manager Ken Womack suggested writing the furnaces out of the borough's code before any popped up in town. "In an urban environment, these things are just not suitable," Womack said. Open burning has been on the agenda for months as the council considers a ban that would assuage citizen complaints of odor and pollution.