MNN - Mother Nature Network

The Los Angeles Times reports that an odor originating from Bob Dylan’s Mailbu, California, estate is blowing in the wind. And it doesn’t smell pretty.

 

Beleaguered neighbors of Dylan, 67, have gone public about a noxious chemical stench coming from a portable toilet on Dylan’s property. The outhouse appears to be a standard port-a-potty model that's used by guards staffing a security post within the iconic musician's enclave.

 

The Emminger family live directly behind the offending toilet and claim to be terrorized by nighttime sea breezes that send a chemical aroma into their home. The foul smell has brought on nausea, illness, and forced the Emmingers to decamp from their bedrooms on balmy evenings. The Emmingers have even gone as far as to install industrial-force fans in their front yard in an effort to blow the stench back onto Dylan’s property.

 

David Emminger tells the LA Times:  "It's a scandal — 'Mr. Civil Rights' is killing our civil rights.” Dylan — who has proven to be a friend of the environment in the past — and his lawyer have declined to comment on the stinky situation.

 

From what I understand, portable toilets host a variety of toxic, highly polluting chemicals like formaldehyde that are used as disinfection agents. My eyes are beginning to water as I write this. Mr. Dylan, for the sake of your neighbors and the environment may I suggest checking out Mesa Waste Services’ database of green portable toilet rentals? 

 

And in completely unrelated celebrity news, TreeHugger's Lloyd Alter has a few words on the importance of helmets in the wake of actress Natasha Richardson's strange and sad death following a seemingly benign ski accident. Bike commuters, take note. 

 

Via [The Los Angeles Times]