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EPA Looks Into Gardendale Odor Complaints
EPA Looks Into Gardendale Odor Complaints 2/21/13
fbolton@cbs7.com
CBS 7 News Reporter
February 21, 2013
GARDENDALE, TX - The smells coming from oil and gas production has many Gardendale residents speaking out to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Now the Environmental Protection Agency has stepped in to see what they can do about the complaints.
"You can't step outside without being assaulted by an obnoxious odor that turns your stomach or that odor is inside your home. You can't seem to get ride of it," said President of the Gardendale Accountability Project Dan Boggs.
Boggs and several other Gardendale residents say they've been complaining to the TCEQ for years about odors from drilling, pumping and fracking in their neighborhood.
"The complaints probably measure in the hundreds," said Boggs.
Ray Moseley is just one of many residents that say the pungent smells affect his quality of life. Moseley filed so many complaints that it caught the attention of the EPA.
"The issue is a very strong gas. Somewhere out here, probably in a lot of the wells, there are some emissions that are not being controlled," stated Moseley.
The EPA says they were checking into odor problems across the nation, when the Gardendale area came up multiple times.
Now those fighting for a change say this gives them new hope to breathe in fresh air.
" It makes me feel a lot better than I have in the past. Because I wasn't really sure that I could trust any of the agencies, but I feel like this is a little higher agency," stated Moseley.
The EPA says this is not an official investigation and they plan to compile data on the problem. Then the federal organization will find the proper jurisdiction to handle the situation.