Lawmakers from Staten Island want to know how nearby chemical plants are affecting air quality after a noxious odor permeated the borough late last month.
Residents complained of a mysterious stench — with descriptions ranging from fish to garbage to electrical fires — on August 28.
New York City authorities speculated that one of the dozens of petrochemical plants in New Jersey's infamous "chemical corridor" were responsible, although they were not able to pinpoint a specific culprit.
Inspectors, meanwhile, arrived in Staten Island to find the smell somewhat dissipated and reported air quality tests that measure "below threshold levels."
Local officials, however, questioned those results.
Joseph Borelli, a Republican who represents most of the borough's southern half in the State Assembly, issued a statement on behalf of every local elected official calling on city and state officials to issue air monitoring data and evaluate potential health consequences of chemical emissions.
"If there's any cause to believe that the odor is caused by particulate matter in our air from New Jersey chemical plants, then it should be a cause for our environmental regulatory agencies to investigate," Borelli told the Staten Island Advance.
