The Bay’s Stench Was Once Called “East Bay Perfume”

Get a Whiff of This

There are days the bay smells so gnarly it brings tears to our eyes. But we’ve come a long way from fifty years ago, when the pungent odors of human-caused rot were strong enough to warrant a nickname: East Bay Perfume.

The San Francisco Bay is considered an estuary of national significance. It’s got everything a little green-hearted hippie could imagine, and it’s worth protecting.

But not so long ago, illegal dumping and poor sewage management led to an environmental crisis in the marshes and wetlands. This led to “an overpowering mixture of sewer smells, crouched in wait for those commuting,” according to author Elna S. Bakker’s 1971 text “An Island Called California.” You can almost smell it now.

Good Morning, Smelly SF

Historically smelly places in San Francisco abound; there was a thick layer of toxic grime that gave Tar Flat it’s name (which has been rebranded as the East Cut). It was mostly poor tenement housing with a lot of immigrants, and it was its own public health crisis of the 1800s. 

Treasure Island is built on fill and holds poisons from the World War II nuclear warfare era. Noxious industrial activity in Hunter’s Point has lingering health effects (read: illness and death) in the Southeastern part of The City. 

What Stinks, Bay Area?

There’s also the Martinez refinery-slash-ecological nightmare that’s been oscillating between clogs and explosions faster than a single stall toilet at a bar. The Thanksgiving 2022 disaster released 20 tons of toxic dust into the vulnerable Bay Area, even though the company’s PR people are hellbent on telling everyone to calm down because it’s not that bad. 

And there are countless stories of industrial toxins stinking up the wafting winds that cool down the East Bay. It’s a smelly place, this Bay Area, but it’s home. 

Nowadays, the kind of sewage mixture and rotting litter is far less pungent thanks to the work of environmental activists of yore (who are still plugging away at the work in groups like SF Estuary Institute and others). If you have a plug for any environmental groups, send it our way. We love to hear about the good work folks are doing. 

But will the East Bay Perfume return? It depends on what happens with San Francisco’s court case against the Environmental Protection Agency. Some think the lawsuit will clear up vague language that leaves The City vulnerable to lawsuits and fines. But others think this paves the way for Trump’s packed Supreme Court of Lawful Evil to gleefully gut the EPA like a sacred fish. 

Find Out More Ecological History

We came across this term in an old environmental reader from 1971 called “An Island Called California,” by Elna S. Bakker (published out of UC Berkeley’s press). We found a used copy in the basement at City Lights, but you can also check it out at your local library. You know what they say: Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card.