weird unpleasant experience

[Greg]

Chloroethane or something similar. Common industrial chemical, used in the production of petroleum products and plastics among many other things. Faintly sweet and floral smell with burning plastic or rubber undertones. Often produces headaches and other symptoms after exposure.

There are a number of other chlorinated or ethylated aromatics that will produce similar effects.

Sometimes off highway fuel will smell of the stuff.

That would be very interesting. Though the smell was powerful incense, on top of burning plastic (like the incense was hiding something).

This area is purely residential, it's a narrow winding road through a fairly narrow wooded strip between a ridge line on one side and a river on the other (with a wide belt of park land past the river, and I-80 and a residential area on the far side of that). The road gets no heavy truck traffic. Up on the ridge are expensive homes, and a grade school.

[HTRN]

(with a wide belt of park land past the river, and I-80 and a residential area on the far side of that).

There's a reason why I-80 between Hopatcong and the Hudson is known as the Industrial Corridor..

[Greg]

(with a wide belt of park land past the river, and I-80 and a residential area on the far side of that).

There's a reason why I-80 between Hopatcong and the Hudson is known as the Industrial Corridor..

Yes. But not in Fairfield or Montville. This is not Totowa or Paterson or Lodi or Hackensack, etc

And anything nasty enough to still be noticeable after blowing west for *miles*, wouldn't be localized to one quarter mile (tops) stretch of local road.

[BDK]

Just saying, that truck dumping waste was driving through Hunterdon County, when we had a horse farm there, back in the 80s - no idea what its like now, I know it went down market, but it was a very affluent area back then.