What Stinks?

#NEWS - NORTH JERSEY - Recently North Jersey travelers have noticed an odd smell between Morris & Passaic Counties. Berkshire Valley Road runs from Route 15 to Route 23 - stretching 12 miles from Wharton to Newfoundland with Oak Ridge in the middle. This road is traveled by many to access Sussex County as well via Reservoir Road to Route 23 N. Once a driver has left Jefferson TWP in Morris County (when traveling into Passaic) - BVR then changes into Oak Ridge Road by bridge thus connecting the Counties over the Pequannock River. There is also another connection point - a bridge at Cozy Lake & Oak Ridge Roads. At one point Davenport Road was a crossing point over the river as well. The Newark Watershed - which consists of Oak RIdge Reservoir, Echo Lake, Clinton Reservoir, & Canistear Reservoir owned by the city of Newark - originally purchased in the 1890s to preserve & later provide water to the largest city in the Garden State. This body of water in Oak RIdge can be seen from the roadways as others are. Newark is located in Essex County. The Dam recently underwent maintenance that caused the reservoir to be drained - several relics of a past life appeared where the body of water now sits. An old bridge brought the attention of many people. The reservoir has since been refilled & repaired according to ABC7NY. The smell is described by some as “horrible”. Some drivers coming from Morris County say one can smell the odor when entering Passaic County & vice versa - thus leaving one to believe it is in the middle. CBS reported in 2023 on ‘smelly odors’ coming from Falls Lake in Wake County, NC - residents mention it smelling like sulfur or rotten eggs at a nearby river. According to the US Army Core of Engineers 3 factors can cause bad odors near bodies of water: Bacteria Growth, Low Oxygen, & Gas Release. Two Counties, one bad smell, hundreds of unhappy commuters! By; Curtis Mack | NJ-SPJ