People say, on some days, the city of Savannah downright stinks."It smells to me like the hot trash, kind of musky. It's a nasty smell," said resident John Michael Dooley."It's kind of overbearing. It's like a musty swamp smell," said Michael Gronebaum and Gerald Chambers, two other Savannah residents.So, what's behind that stench?WJCL 22 News learned there are a number of things contributing to the odor that is sometimes present.The first is marshland. "So there's sort of two probably major smells. The first is that hydrogen sulfide, and then the second is something called DMS, or dimethyl sulfide," said Tyler Cyronak, an assistant professor at Georgia Southern University.Cyronak said hydrogen sulfide smells like rotten eggs."That comes from bacteria that live in the pluffmud," he said. "They live in areas where there's no oxygen, which we call anoxic zones. So they're using sulfur to do their metabolism to create the energy when there's no oxygen available."He said the second smell, dimethyl sulfide, comes from plants."It's described like cabbage, but really, it smells like the ocean to me. So it's sort of that distinct ocean smell," Cyronak said.Cyronak said tide, wind and salinity can all play a role in making Savannah more stinky on certain days and less stinky on others."If the wind's blowing from the marsh into certain areas, you're going to smell it a lot more than if it's blowing offshore," he said.City leaders told WJCL 22 News the paper mill also contributes to the smell."I definitely know that they're doing whatever they're doing 'cause you can smell that smell for miles away," Dooley said.Paper mills are known to emit a rotten eggs or cabbage smell, but many describe it as the smell of money. It's important to note though, that International Paper in Savannah works with the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure they're in compliance with regulations.In a statement to WJCL 22, an EPA spokesperson said, "The facility is periodically inspected by the GEPD to assess compliance status with issued air permits. EPA's review of International Paper's most recent compliance status inspection results indicates the facility is operating in compliance with the conditions as specified in the permit."The EPA also said they haven't gotten too many complaints about International Paper."GEPD has received infrequent odor complaints related to International Paper, the most frequent being November 2022. Upon receiving a complaint, a GEPD inspector investigates the area around the facility and communicates with IP to understand if there are any operational issues at the facility, which may cause odors. The GEPD, in collaboration with EPA, operates and maintains a National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) Network SO2 monitor near IP’s location (approximately one mile away), but has not observed NAAQS SO2 exceedances at the monitor since first-quarter 2021."At the end of the day, people WJCL 22 News spoke with say that beyond rotten eggs, trash or musk, what the smell really reminds them of at this point is the city of Savannah.