Plano Homeowners Demand Testing, Say Odor Is Making Them Sick
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PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) - Homeowners in Plano's Cross Creek neighborhood say the air they breathe is causing them to get sick.
Four homeowners in the area have filed a lawsuit against the City of Plano. They are seeking damages for years of breathing in fumes from nearby sewer lines. These neighbors are also asking the city to do additional air testing.
For nearly a decade, residents have complained to the city about a "rotten egg smell" in their neighborhood.
What neighbors smell is a gas known as hydrogen sulfide (H2S). The gas is coming from what the city said are poorly designed sewer lines in the area.
Homeowner Hooshang Kordy said he believes the years of breathing in the H2S has taken a toll on his health.
Kordy said his health has become "very bad" in recent years and believes the levels of H2S inside his home are to blame.
Back in January the CBS 11 I-Team asked the City of Plano why it had not tested the air in the neighborhood to make sure it was safe to breathe. The city had tested the manhole covers and roof vents to determine where the H2S was coming from but had not conducted any air quality tests in the neighborhood.
Less than a week after the I-Team questioned city officials, the City of Plano began testing the air in the neighborhood by placing six air monitors throughout the neighborhood.
The results from a month's worth of testing showed the levels of H2S discovered were all below what the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) considers as dangerous to health.
In a separate investigation the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) also "did not detect any elevated air pollutants" in the neighborhood.
However, homeowners said those agencies failed to test in the most important place - inside their homes.
The homeowners' attorney, Michael Goldman, said "I think it's a health risk, and I think they (City of Plano) need to figure out what the levels are inside their homes."
On the day the CBS 11 I-Team visited Kordy's home, the odor was much stronger inside his home than outside.
Kordy said, "The smell is so bad I have to leave the house sometimes - just cannot stand this smell."
The Plano homeowner said he believes the city has not done enough to ensure his safety.
A spokesperson for the City of Plano said the request to test inside the homes in the neighborhood is "currently under consideration."
The city also noted "there may be problems with his (Kordy's) plumbing that is contributing to the sewage odor."
The city is now a month into a sewer line re-construction project in the area it believes will finally get rid of the odor. They expect to finish the project sometime next month and the city said once it's done it will retest the air.