Trick or treat, smell my feet: poultry plant blamed for odour

A mysterious, manure-like smell was trick-or-treating in some Calgary neighbourhoods on Halloween night.

Alberta Environment blamed a weather system on Oct. 31 called an inversion, which combined with a lack of wind to magnify smells from the Lilydale poultry and processing plant in the southeast.

"There's been quite an influx of calls," said Natasha McKenzie from Alberta Environment on Friday.

She said the weather phenomenon is actually relatively common, but on Halloween night it was more noticeable because of the lack of wind.

"With the weather so calm at the moment there is an inversion system, which is actually keeping all the odours within the hemisphere .… They are actually normally always there, it just happens that they are more prominent."