09-06-2007, 01:32 AM
By Vic Lee
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sep. 4, 2007 (KGO) - For the past couple of years, workers at a South San Francisco company have found their parked cars covered with a mysterious unknown substance. They tried to find out what it was, but to no avail.
"I don't know what to think. It's a complete mystery to me. I don't know what to think," said Louis Mitchell, car owner.
Mitchell and his fellow workers first noticed mysterious globs on their parked cars two years ago.
They work for Yusen, a customs house brokerage firm, in South San Francisco.
The globs are carried by the wind, splattering indiscriminately on cars in the company's parking lot.
It's not pollen, since there's only one tree near the parking lot.
It doesn't come off easily either. It's yellowish in color, without much odor, but it does smell rusty.
"I've had to use my thumbnail to get it off effectively," said Mitchell.
"It's a pain. It takes about an hour or two to get it washed really nicely," said Mohammed Rahoof, car owner.
"I have to wash it every two weeks," said Nick Maridakis, car owner.
They've stopped going to car washes because it's become too expensive.
"I've got my kids going it right now. Now, they're getting frustrated and they want me to pay them for it," said Mitchell.
The globs strike without warning. It even got our news van as we were working on this story.
So, what is the glob? Louis Mitchell and his colleagues went to City Hall and to public works for help. They referred them to the EPA, which never returned their calls.
"It just doesn't seem to be a common situation that's been brought to, you know, city or county government before, "said Mitchell.
We talked to the Bay Area Air Quality Control Board, and they told us they'll contact the workers to see if it's in their purview.
In the meantime, ABC7 will take a sample of the glob and ask a testing lab to examine it.
Maybe they can clear up the mystery.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5635442
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sep. 4, 2007 (KGO) - For the past couple of years, workers at a South San Francisco company have found their parked cars covered with a mysterious unknown substance. They tried to find out what it was, but to no avail.
"I don't know what to think. It's a complete mystery to me. I don't know what to think," said Louis Mitchell, car owner.
Mitchell and his fellow workers first noticed mysterious globs on their parked cars two years ago.
They work for Yusen, a customs house brokerage firm, in South San Francisco.
The globs are carried by the wind, splattering indiscriminately on cars in the company's parking lot.
It's not pollen, since there's only one tree near the parking lot.
It doesn't come off easily either. It's yellowish in color, without much odor, but it does smell rusty.
"I've had to use my thumbnail to get it off effectively," said Mitchell.
"It's a pain. It takes about an hour or two to get it washed really nicely," said Mohammed Rahoof, car owner.
"I have to wash it every two weeks," said Nick Maridakis, car owner.
They've stopped going to car washes because it's become too expensive.
"I've got my kids going it right now. Now, they're getting frustrated and they want me to pay them for it," said Mitchell.
The globs strike without warning. It even got our news van as we were working on this story.
So, what is the glob? Louis Mitchell and his colleagues went to City Hall and to public works for help. They referred them to the EPA, which never returned their calls.
"It just doesn't seem to be a common situation that's been brought to, you know, city or county government before, "said Mitchell.
We talked to the Bay Area Air Quality Control Board, and they told us they'll contact the workers to see if it's in their purview.
In the meantime, ABC7 will take a sample of the glob and ask a testing lab to examine it.
Maybe they can clear up the mystery.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5635442