ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Pinellas County officials said they’ve heard the complaints and smelled the odors in St. Pete's Childs Park neighborhood, so now they've brought in a new monitor from the Environmental Protection Agency to help them determine the source.

But they say even with the new monitors in place, it will be months before they've collected enough data to potentially make a determination on the odor's source.

Numerous people in the Childs Park neighborhood have spotted the new fenced in monitors, so Spectrum News went to ask the experts to find out what they actually do.

“They’re photo ionization detectors ... and what they can do is they can take the air or a gas and they can visualize or detect volatile organic compounds in the air,” said Pinellas County Environmental Program manager Brennan Farrington. "There’s many different compounds that fall under the category of a volatile organic compound. Lots of VOC’s out there. Hundreds."

A few weeks after the monitors were installed, Spectrum News met Farrington at Childs Park with Pinellas County Air Quality Division manager Sheila Schneider.

“We’ve been having ongoing issues in the neighborhood, as you know, with odors," she said. "And we’re trying to get to the bottom of where they’re coming from and how they’re here."

For months Schneider said the county tried to figure out an affordable option that would help better understand the a foul, chemical-like odor community members had been complaining about.

“EPA had these sensor units on loan to another program in another state, and we became aware of them and reached out to them to see if we could participate in their program," Schneider said. "And they were happy to do it."

There are five companies in the area have air permits from the county: a concrete plant, a chrome plating company, two that handle oil and gas, and the city’s water reclamation facility operating as a bio energy company.

Schneider said the new monitors will get them closer to finding out if one or more of those companies are contributing to the mystery odor.

“There might be some facilities here that might be emitting stuff that we didn’t know was happening, so we’ve just gonna continue to collect data,” she said. “This is going to be an ongoing thing for a minimum of six months before we can make any real serious determinations in terms of what we are dealing with.”

And while it may be too soon to tell if there’s harmful emissions in the neighborhood or where they’re coming from, Schneider said the possible penalties are very clear.

“There are financial penalties — there are always financial penalties," she said. "We can add things into the permit that will encourage the permitted facility to comply better. We’re looking at odor-control plans and some things like that."

Schneider said she hopes members of the community see her department's work as a clear indicator that they are determined to get to the bottom of the odor. 

Several of the residents have voiced concerns, and some have called for the facilities to be removed from the area completely. But Schneider said even with the data they’re collecting, she doesn’t see that happening.