A pungent, natural gas-like stench that reportedly wafted through the communities of Ocean Beach and La Playa and apparently was detected by sniffers as far inland as the Midway District on Sept. 3 prompted several hundred calls to San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) and local authorities to investigate the source. San Diego Fire and Rescue Department spokesman Maurice Luque said city crews, SDG&E technicians and San Diego County Department of Environmental Health officials could not find anything unusual. Officials determined the smell came from “rotting vegetation from the San Diego River at low tide, probably made worse by the warm temperatures that day,” Luque said. But La Playa resident John Ahlering said he thinks the stench may have come from the ongoing demolition and construction of fuel tanks at Naval Base Point Loma. Ahlering lives adjacent to Navy property and close to the tanks. He said similar smells often come from the routine venting of the fuel tanks themselves. He added that the combination of rotting vegetation and ongoing fuel tank demolition/construction may have caused the surrounding community’s alarm bells to go off. “[As] an anesthetologist, I know it’s not dangerous to smell low levels of gas,” Ahlering said. “But this was definitely a hydrocarbon smell.” While many in the surrounding communities reported the stench on the day the Navy began construction around a protective shell surrounding the tank, Navy representative Bob Page said the tank that was scheduled for demolition was not even opened until the next day, Sept. 4. “We did a thorough investigation and we don’t have an answer for the actual smell,” Page said. “[But] the tank did not actually open until Friday so the scent did not come from us.” Page said the Navy informs neighbors about important construction dates and times by way of letters to neighbors in surrounding communities. Ahlering said he was informed of the ongoing construction but added that construction crews started earlier than the notified date and went about an hour past the time that construction is scheduled to stop for the day. This happened at least once so far, Ahlering said, adding that he thinks the Navy should be more considerate of neighbors during construction of the new fuel tank system. The new P401 fuel tank system is supposed to replace an older tank system built during the World War II era, according to Navy officials. At least one of the older tanks has been known to leak in the past, causing an underground fuel plume near the San Diego Bay and underneath at least one home adjacent to the base. Navy officials could do more to mitigate any possible fuel leaks into the bay as well as reduce inconveniences to neighbors, Ahlering said. “My main concern is that the Navy has not been very nice,” Ahlering said.