Sulfur Spring Odors Ebbing in Paso Robles

A sulfur smell that has permeated Paso Robles since the Dec. 22 San Simeon earthquake is easing, as workers pipe mud from a wayward sulfur spring into the city sewer.

“It doesn’t stink as much now,” Paso Robles City Manager Jim App said Tuesday. “But the smell of sulfur still wafts through the offices sometimes.”

The mud spring, opened by the magnitude 6.5 quake, spews 500,000 gallons of 111-degree mud a day. It is in the vicinity of mud baths that were used at the turn of the 19th century.

App said the city is conducting thermal monitoring at the site.

Costs are expected to top $2 million, a small portion of the more than $222 million in estimated damages in San Luis Obispo County from the quake that killed two women and caused extensive damage to historic brick buildings in downtown Paso Robles.