This construction site on Stanford campus had organic products and fertilizer that began to rot, which caused the rotten smell on campus yesterday. The field at the intersection of El Camino Real and Churchill Road will be replaced with synthetic turf, according to the site project manager. – Jordan ZengerThe rotten smell that plagued Palo Alto High School yesterday was not a senior prank, but a result of construction projects at Stanford University.

The grass soccer field at the intersection of El Camino Real and Churchill Road is being replaced with a new synthetic turf field, requiring the top layer of dirt to be scraped off so all of the organic materials in the dirt can be removed, according to the construction site’s project manager.

The project manager said the odor was caused by the organic products and fertilizer from the top layer of dirt starting to rot, and that the smell will hopefully go away as soon as the new turf is installed.

The smell created rumors of an alleged senior prank, primarily because on the same day plastic penguins were seen on roofs around campus with “Seniors 2010” written on their stomachs.

“I totally thought it [the smell] was part of the prank,” senior Ethan Black said. “Everyone was trying to figure out who did it.”

Many students said they first smelled the odor during second period and near the beginning of brunch, stating that the stench was similar to the smell of horse manure. Both the site’s project manager and Black think that the smell only reached Paly because of strong winds.

According to Yahoo! Weather, the amount of wind is expected to decrease the rest of this week, and presumably the strength of the off-putting smell will as well.