"Stinky Town" Being Investigated By Environmental Workers

Something in a Central Florida town is giving people headaches and making them sick to their stomachs. The complaints have been piling up for months. Now, Orange County environmental workers started work in Zellwood to try to figure what's to blame.

News of the Strange Sidebar (RIGHT) Not weird enough? Read more strange news.

LOOK! Strange News Photos

Sign Up To Receive Our Daily News Of The Strange Email Environmental workers have been taking air samples and the county commissioner is scheduling community meetings, all to get to the bottom of this mystery.

You probably know Zellwood for their annual sweet corn festival. Families who live here have started to sour on the tiny town.

"It's a pretty big deal, if you live out here," says Andy Cobb.

He says trouble starts when the wind blows from the northeast and the humidity is high.

The odor will knock you out.

"It smells akin to rotten eggs," says Cobb.

Email News Sign-Up Multiple Choices - Auto sign-up (LEFT ALIGN) GET WFTV NEWS HEADLINES BY EMAIL 9 a.m. Headlines Noon Headlines 4 p.m. Headlines News of the Strange Breaking News Alerts He says the pungent problem started a year ago and he's not the only one to notice.

It has ruined at least one appetite on Vickie Mendoza's farm.

"I had people come here to stay, and they want to go to a hotel. It's been so bad. It's embarrassing," says Mendoza.

Arnaldo Mercado is the man trying to sniff out some answers. He has help.

The Jerome 631X is like an electronic nose. It measures hydrogen sulfide in the air, a common cause of stench. He's taking samples all over town.

There are a lot of smelly suspects: a mushroom processing plant, two landfills and two pet cemeteries.

Everyone has an opinion on who's to blame. They hope a study will provide some answers and eventually bring back the fresh air.

That electronic nose will be out four more times to take samples. Environmental workers hope to have a report wrapped up in two weeks.