A pungent, chemical-like smell has been drifting through Lakewood and parts of Cleveland for six days, racking up over two dozen formal complaints since Oct. 22 — and investigators still cannot say where it's coming from. Most reports have centered on Lakewood's east end and the historic Birdtown neighborhood, with additional calls from other pockets of the city and Cleveland's West Park neighborhood.
Roman Fedorko, chief of air pollution enforcement for the Cleveland Division of Air Quality, confirmed that the source remains a mystery to his department, according to News 5 Cleveland. Investigators visited the affected areas Monday and Tuesday, and Fedorko said the inquiry is underway and ongoing, with the division now planning to follow up directly with everyone who filed a formal complaint.
Residents Describe Fumes That Strike After Dark
The odor has mostly been noticed during evening and overnight hours, per Lakewood Councilman Matt Bixenstine, who said he began fielding calls about the smell starting last Thursday. He has since reached out to the Division of Air Quality himself seeking answers on behalf of residents.
One of those residents, Sheari Connor, filed a report with the county last week describing the smell as pungent, leathery and chemical-like. Connor has an asthmatic child and said the fumes hurt her son's lungs; she said the odor had come and gone before but grew noticeably stronger on Oct. 21. She has also posted about the smell on social media to warn neighbors and ask for help, but as of the station's report, she had not received a response from the county.
Separate Inspection Turns Up No Answers Either
A separate investigation reported by Cleveland 19 News found that the Division of Air Quality sent an inspector into the industrial area around West 117th Street to try to trace the smell, but that inspection also failed to identify a source. The Lakewood Fire Department told the station it is aware of the complaints and investigating, but it cannot point to a specific cause, noting it could be a variety of things.
Officials are now asking anyone who catches a whiff of the odor to call it in immediately rather than wait, since real-time reports help investigators narrow down where the smell is strongest. The Division of Air Quality's enforcement hotline, reachable 24/7, is 216-664-7442. As part of the next phase of the investigation, the division plans to hand out three to four canisters so residents in affected areas can collect outdoor air samples for testing and data collection.
Lakewood Has Smelled This Before
This isn't the first time an unexplained odor has swept through the area. Earlier in 2024, Lakewood residents reported a similar gas-like smell, and officials at the time traced it to an oil well on Hilliard Boulevard in Rocky River that had been punctured during construction work, according to a separate News 5 Cleveland report; the Ohio Department of Natural Resources worked to fix that issue at the time, though officials warned the smell could linger for a few days. In another prior case, NASA identified an odor as jet fuel the agency had been using at NASA Glenn to simulate space-exploration flight tests. Officials have not identified a cause for what residents are smelling now.
Nearby Rocky River has also fielded its own wave of calls. During a 2023 investigation, Fire Chief Aaron Lenart said the department had been receiving complaints for the previous two to three weeks, typically between 8 and 10 p.m. and mostly from the city's east and southeast sections, with reports stretching into Fairview Park as well. Lenart said the three fire chiefs in Lakewood, Rocky River and Fairview Park had been in contact, but added that the smell had not registered on Rocky River's detection meters and that officials had nothing definitive showing it was causing any health problem.
