Some professors whose offices are in Building 46T have been reluctant to stay in it because of the smell.
Celina Oseguera
[follow id = “celinaoseguera”]
Something smells fishy on the Cal Poly campus.
But technically, it doesn’t smell like fish. It smells like a dead animal.
A strange scent has been coming from the Natatorium Faculty Trailer (Building 46T) since last week, Cal Poly Associate Vice President for Facilities Mark Hunter said. He described it as smelling like dead animal.
“I could smell a very faint odor that I thought was consistent with a dead animal,” he said. “It comes and goes.”
Some professors whose offices are in the building have been reluctant to stay in it because of the smell.
Facilities staff received an email last week regarding the situation, and sent employees to the site at least three times, but found nothing. They looked underneath the building, in the ceiling tiles and ventilation system, Hunter said.
During a check of the building Wednesday, employees Bob Selders and Don Williams explained what they thought was the source of the smell: an animal, which could have crawled under the building, made its home in the insulation and died.
“They can die in place,” Selders said about the possibility of an animal crawling into the insulation.
Cal Poly had not yet identified or removed the source of the smell Thursday, Hunter said.