There’s something foul in Birmingham and Royal Oak. Just ask the hundreds of residents who’ve flooded the phone lines of the Birmingham and Royal Oak fire departments along with Consumers Energy in the last few weeks reporting a gas smell. Royal Oak assistant Fire Chief Jim Cook says an odor of gas can be detected when crews go out to investigate but when Consumers arrives with it’s equipment, no gas leak can be found. Most of the calls are in the area of 14 mile and Coolidge, west of Crooks and East of Woodward.
Cook says after weeks of searching they believe the culprit is hydrogen sulfide. A common sewer gas which at low levels may not present a health threat, but at higher levels can be deadly. Cook says both Birmingham and Royal Oak continue to try to resolve the issue and they have notified the Department of Environmental Quality and county drain commission.
WJR will continue to follow the story.
