CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- For a few months, something stunk at Riverside High School.

On Thursday morning, county officials believed they solved the sewer gas smell that has plagued the school off and on this fall.

Over time, water had evaporated from more than one dried-up sewer trap, causing the odor, county maintenance director Terry Hollandsworth said.

The worst culprit was in a warm, obscure storage closet inside a boys' bathroom. Maintenance workers rarely enter the closet, he said.

"Once you opened up the door to that closet, we knew it was in there," Hollandsworth said.

To kill the odor, school officials filled multiple traps with antifreeze. The chemical does not evaporate as quickly as water.

Traps must be filled with water or other liquids to keep a sewer gas smell from escaping.   

Students left one classroom Thursday morning and did their coursework in the cafeteria because the smell was so bad, said Dale Petry, Kanawha County emergency services director. Several students went home early, he said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- For a few months, something stunk at Riverside High School.

On Thursday morning, county officials believed they solved the sewer gas smell that has plagued the school off and on this fall.

Over time, water had evaporated from more than one dried-up sewer trap, causing the odor, county maintenance director Terry Hollandsworth said.

The worst culprit was in a warm, obscure storage closet inside a boys' bathroom. Maintenance workers rarely enter the closet, he said.

"Once you opened up the door to that closet, we knew it was in there," Hollandsworth said.

To kill the odor, school officials filled multiple traps with antifreeze. The chemical does not evaporate as quickly as water.

Traps must be filled with water or other liquids to keep a sewer gas smell from escaping.   

Students left one classroom Thursday morning and did their coursework in the cafeteria because the smell was so bad, said Dale Petry, Kanawha County emergency services director. Several students went home early, he said.

"I called the state to send someone from air quality and I called DuPont and they sent someone with an air tester," Petry said.

The DuPont worker found the source of the smell in the closet, he said.

Once the building filled with kids, the ventilation system would carry the smell from the trap throughout the building, he said.

"They probably had the problem for three months," Petry said. "Thanks again to DuPont for their assistance in finding out it was something as simple as a trap. It was one of the easiest chemical problems we've ever had to fix. I wish they were all like that."

Hollandsworth said maintenance workers have "been chasing this thing for a while now." He hopes the problem is fixed.

"As my grandmother always said, time will tell," said Riverside Assistant Principal Neil Hopkins.

Reach Davin White at 348-1254 or davinwh...@wvgazette.com. Reach Gary Harki at 348-1263 or gha...@wvgazette.com.