Published: November 27, 2006 05:16 pm            

Stinky towels found in Wyoming offices

JACKSON, Wyo. — “Wet dog” and “stinky feet.”

Those are some of the words being used to describe the odor of some paper towels that were stocked in restrooms across town.

An investigation by the Jackson Hole News & Guide found the malodorous product at six businesses and in most of the 20 Teton County government buildings.

Melissa Shinkle, who works in the county clerk’s office, said county employees didn’t talk about the odor at first — but then it became a topic of conversation.

“It was like, ’Have you noticed?’ When you wash your hands, they should smell nice, but they smell worse,” Shinkle said. “It’s gross.”

The source: High Country Linen, a business owned by Mayor Mark Barron, which distributed the smelly towels around town in September.

“When we got the reports, we dealt with them directly and immediately,” Barron said. “We may have had five or six calls.”

The company’s manager, Eric Vic, said the towels were manufactured by SCA Tissue North America in Neenah, Wis. The company’s vice president of manufacturing, Ron Thirty, said in a statement that “odors in our products are a highly unusual occurrence.”

        

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