The sewage department has been busy on our street this week—the entire neighborhood smells like benzene. Or maybe it’s some other aromatic hydrocarbon but whatever it is, I’m glad that I’m inside where I can’t smell it.

The workers are out there, unprotected. Nobody I’ve seen is wearing a filter or mask. Won’t long exposure to something so strongly scented cause them harm? Just walking along the street past the construction area, I was really happy to go a little faster than usual.

I’m not even sure what they are doing. Two days ago, they were airing out the manholes with fans and aluminum ductwork; yesterday they had a camera on an optic fiber—sewage endoscopy?