Manure a stinky mystery

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Four months of midnight manure dumpings has created a stinky mystery in Anchorage, Alaska.

An estimated 100 tons of manure are now sitting in two piles on the lot near a storage company and a strip mall, and it could cost up to $6,000 to haul it away, the Anchorage Daily News reported Monday.

"It's the Great Manure Caper of 2007," said Ron Teekell, an owner of Storite Storage located next to the smelly piles.

Rick Novy, a city code enforcement officer, said he e-mailed the lot's property manager in Hawaii. "He had no idea," Novy said.

There are tire tracks leading from the piles. Teekell and others think the culprit is someone looking to avoid paying dumping fees, which can run $45 a month

"We can take moldings of the tire tracks," he said. "What do you think about DNA testing?"