Firefighters in McHenry County responded to multiple calls for natural gas odors Thursday morning after Nicor performed work at a transmission station near Crystal Lake.
The Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department responded around 8:22 a.m. Thursday to Crystal Lake Bank and Trust, 5100 Northwest Highway in Crystal Lake, for a report of a natural gas odor outside.
Several additional 911 calls were received minutes later for gas odors in the area of Crystal Lake Avenue and Smith Road in unincorporated Crystal Lake, as well as 2101 Route 176 in Prairie Grove and at Coventry Elementary School in Crystal Lake.
Fire crews were unable to find any gas leaks in the area of the calls.
Nicor Gas spokeswoman Jennifer Golz said the smell was attributed to routine maintenance being performed at a Nicor transmission station at Route 176 and Bayview Beach Road in Prairie Grove.
Golz said the smell was the odorant mercaptan, which is added to natural gas to give it the odor of rotten eggs.
The odor poses no harm to the community and there are no gas leaks.
“Rest assured, there’s no gas leak and no safety threat,” Golz said.
Nicor Gas received approximately 20 reports of the smell on Thursday morning.
Golz said the maintenance work has since been completed and the odor will eventually dissipate.
Anyone who smells the odor and is still concerned can call the gas company.