Neighbors who live next to the San Antonio Oak Farms dairy production plant say it stinks and has for at least five years.
“It’s like a strong rotten egg odor,” said Mark Guzmayn, who lives next to the plant.
“Bad gas,” said David Bustos.
“Like rotting milk, yeah,” said Angelina Guzmayn.
The Guzmayns live about a block away from the dairy plant so close they can see the facility peeking over their neighbor’s house. They say they can never tell when it is going to let out a bad odor, but if past experience is any indication, they know it will not be long.
“It can be three times a week,” Angelina Guzmayn said.
A petition pushing to get rid of the odor around the facility near Fredericksburg Road and I-10 was started last month. It now has more than 250 signatures.
The petition raises questions about prolonged exposure to industrial waste odor. Neighbors are worried it may be behind their claims of experiencing headaches and respiratory issues.
“To me, it’s chemicals,” Mark Guzmayn said.
Neighbors are not sure what inside the dairy plant is actually causing the odor.
We reached out to the owner, Dairy Farmers of America, to find out, but did not get a direct answer.
Instead, the company sent us a statement saying it is aware of concerns about the smell and is actively working with technical experts to “evaluate and implement operational and equipment improvements to reduce odors.”
Neighbors are glad the company is at least acknowledging there is a problem.
“That’s what we want, of course,” Bustos said.
But they still have concerns.
“What if anything does get leaked into the water?” Mark Guzmayn said.
Late Sunday night, Dairy Farmers of America got back to us, saying there are no public health or drinking water concerns with the issue. We are also working to find out what type of operational and equipment improvements may be implemented and will continue to stay on top of this story.