---
title: "What is that smell, and which areas get it? | Prince George"
description: "It is mostly reduced sulphur compounds from the city’s kraft pulp mills, strongest when the air is still or during an inversion."
url: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/mill-smell/
markdown: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/mill-smell.md
site: PG Pulse (https://princegeorgepulse.ca), The pulse of Prince George, British Columbia
generated: 2026-10-16T16:07:33.941Z
---

[Winter, weather and air](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/#weather)

# What is that smell, and which areas get it?

It is mostly reduced sulphur compounds from the city’s kraft pulp mills. It is strongest when the air is still or during an inversion, and drifts wherever the light wind blows.

Checked October 1, 2026. Numbers update on their own.

The “rotten egg” or cabbage smell comes from reduced sulphur gases released by kraft pulp mills. Health authorities describe it mainly as a nuisance at typical levels, but it is a reminder that the valley traps air. It is worst on calm, stable days and nights, and a breeze clears it; which neighbourhoods get it depends on the wind direction that day. Our air quality dashboard shows the live readings and the inversion watch.

## By the numbers, live

- Air quality health index now
  1.7
  October 16, 2026. PG Pulse live board (Open-Meteo, ECCC, Water Survey of Canada, BC Wildfire Service, BC Hydro, DriveBC, NOAA SWPC). [More on air quality health index now](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/air-quality/)

Still have a question? The assistant answers from all of our live data.

[Ask the assistant](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/ask/?q=What%20is%20that%20smell%2C%20and%20which%20areas%20get%20it%3F)

## On PG Pulse

- [Air quality dashboard](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/air-quality/)
- [Weather and inversion watch](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/weather/)

## Official sources

- [Province of BC: air quality](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/air/air-quality) Link checked October 14, 2026

## Related questions

- [Do I need winter tires or a block heater?](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/winter-tires/)
- [How bad is winter, and how do people cope?](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/surviving-winter/)
- [Where is the smoke coming from, and why are there air advisories in winter?](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/smoke-air-advisories/)

[All answers](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/) · [Report a problem](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/feedback/)

## More in Living here

[See all in Living here](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/browse/#living)

- [Moving here Costs, jobs, taxes, services](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/move/)
- [Jobs Local openings, searchable](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/jobs/)
- [Household costs Rent, power, gas, utilities, fuel](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/tools/household-costs/)
- [Housing Rents, prices, new builds](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/housing/)
- [Neighbourhoods 31 areas, mapped](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/neighbourhoods/)
- [Schools Every K-12 school, college and university](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/schools/)

## Data

Machine-readable data behind this page, from the free PG Pulse API (https://princegeorgepulse.ca/developers/).

### Answer

Source: [Answers compiled from our own pages and the official sources linked in each answer; live values from our public API](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/). Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); each answer links its official sources. Updated 2026-10-14T12:40:01.822Z.
JSON: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/api/v1/answers/mill-smell

- **id**: mill-smell
- **theme**: 20
- **topic**: weather
- **topicLabel**: Winter, weather and air
- **question**: What is that smell, and which areas get it?
- **also**: Pulp mill smell, Is the smell better in College Heights
- **short**: It is mostly reduced sulphur compounds from the city’s kraft pulp mills. It is strongest when the air is still or during an inversion, and drifts wherever the light wind blows.
- **answer**: The “rotten egg” or cabbage smell comes from reduced sulphur gases released by kraft pulp mills. Health authorities describe it mainly as a nuisance at typical levels, but it is a reminder that the valley traps air. It is worst on calm, stable days and nights, and a breeze clears it; which neighbourhoods get it depends on the wind direction that day. Our air quality dashboard shows the live readings and the inversion watch.
- **checked**: 2026-10-01
- **page**: <https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/mill-smell/>

#### facts

| key | label | api | value | asOf | source | sourceUrl | href |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| aqhi | Air quality health index now | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/api/v1/now | 1.7 | October 16, 2026 | PG Pulse live board (Open-Meteo, ECCC, Water Survey of Canada, BC Wildfire Service, BC Hydro, DriveBC, NOAA SWPC) | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/ | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/air-quality/ |


#### links

| label | url |
| --- | --- |
| Air quality dashboard | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/air-quality/ |
| Weather and inversion watch | https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/weather/ |


#### official

| label | url | linkOk | linkCheckedAt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Province of BC: air quality | https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/air/air-quality | true | 2026-10-14T12:40:01.822Z |

---

Markdown version of https://princegeorgepulse.ca/answers/mill-smell/. Guide for AI agents: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/llms.txt. Free API: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/developers/