VENICE, Fla. — The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is looking into a report of a "pungent gas smell" coming from a concrete plant in Sarasota County.
The neighbors who live in the Toscana Isles subdivision located near Gene Green Road and Knight's Trail say they've been dealing with a lot more than the odor from several plants next door.
A sound barrier wall was built as a buffer between the neighborhood and a major industrial zone, but concerned neighbors say it's not doing much when it comes to keeping out noise, air, and light pollution from concrete and asphalt plants on the other side.
"There's three major factories here, from cement plants to asphalt plants and then there's also a third plant which is a rock crusher," Venice resident Vance Delong said.
Several neighbors said all of that, plus the several trucks that go up and down Gene Green Road, make their home environment a very noisy and uncomfortable place.
"In the morning when they start up, they use heat in whatever process they're doing and it creates a smell and odor," neighbor John Herlihy said.
Herlihy said he lives several streets from the buffer wall and doesn't get heavily impacted except when the weather plays a role.
"We can see the smoke from the plant in the morning and if the wind is in our direction we will get the odor," he said.
"Especially with the asphalt, it's acrid and it becomes almost unbearable. It burns the eyes and nose and you have to go inside or I oftentimes just leave," Delong said.
The neighbors said they were also plagued with dust blown from the plant sites.
"I have issues with my solar system. I have to have it sprayed off quite frequently because the dust builds up. I have issues with my pool filter. It's pretty much black. I clean it monthly without even being used, it's just quite dirty," Delong said.
At least one neighbor frustrated by the situation has reported the matter to the State's Department of Environmental Protection for action.
"Concrete plant is running late into the night and producing a ton of pungent gas smell in the surrounding residential areas," the notice read.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to the various plants to find out what they knew about the complaint.
According to managers on some of the sites, they had not yet been notified of any complaint by the DEP or the county. They also added that they are up to code on emissions and follow the applicable ordinances for their operations.
The plants have been around since 1995 when the area was just swampland before the boom of housing developments.
"These people knew about it when they moved in. They signed a disclaimer that said they knew what was on the other side of that fence," Herlihy said.
"They notified us that there was the facility. They didn't tell us what the facility was. They didn't tell us about the smell. It was not made clear how much of an impact it would have," Delong said.
The residents are hoping the DEP can intervene to keep the pollution at a minimum or the area can be rezoned
"It's not nice to be around asphalt plants and cement plants. Eventually, civilization and urbanization are going to encroach on them and they'll have to move somewhere else," Herlihy added.
As part of its investigation, the DEP will be looking into the direct source of the smell that was reported last night as well as other complaints from the residents.
A Sarasota County spokesperson said they are yet to receive a notification of the complaint but representatives plan to reach out to the concerned citizen directly and conduct their own investigation.