An unknown gas smell in Windsor has been identified

The logo of Plains Midstream Canada, at a news conference in Calgary, Alta., Friday, May 6, 2011. (Jeff McIntosh / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

An unknown gas smell in Windsor on Friday has been identified.

According to a statement from Plains Midstream Canada, the company was performing routine maintenance at the Windsor facility, "Which resulted in an unintended release of a small volume of mercaptan. The release was quickly contained and we would also like to reaffirm that while mercaptan has a strong smell, its presence in the air poses little risk to the public."

Mercaptan is used as a preventative safety measure to odourize propane, an otherwise odourless gas.

Although the concentration of mercaptan was minimal, the company said it will take time for the odour to dissipate.

A statement went on to say that the compay was conducting hourly monitoring to assess odour and air quality