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Despite cement company NAPCO saying its standard use permit already is a done deal, residents who live near the Northwest Side plant remain optimistic their accusations, including cement dust endangering their health, will be heard.

More than 100 residents who live near NAPCO had the opportunity to air their grievances last week at a public meeting that became both heated and emotional.

“Every time I go away from my home, I get healthier,” resident Dana Lindauer said at a recent public meeting.

But after a 2014 investigation into another resident’s complaints, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality concluded that there was not a cement dust problem. A finding that confounded many of the residents who questioned those results at Thursday’s meeting, which was called by the TCEQ.

In its defense, NAPCO leaned on those findings against what has become an onslaught of complaints.

“We are not having dust leave our yard according to TCEQ, when they came out there to investigate,” NAPCO President Todd Davidson said after the meeting. “We can only be responsible for our property. We are not responsible for everything else, unfortunately.”

That investigation, although it didn’t find evidence of cement dust, did find that NAPCO needed to apply for a new standard permit for a concrete batch plant.

After the TCEQ received NAPCO’s permit on Aug. 5, the public notice process kicked in. From Aug. 16 to 31, NAPCO placed notices in the Express-News and La Prensa regarding its application. The company also posted signs in front of its property on Low Bid Lane, which faces away from the neighborhoods.

As part of the process, the residents had until Aug. 31 to seek a formal hearing on the permit. But the TCEQ received no comments or requests for public or contested case hearings before the deadline passed.

But the residents feel they were bamboozled by the company’s notification process.

The residents dismiss the notices in the publications as proper notification. Neighbors also are skeptical the signs were installed properly. Even if they were, they were not placed where people could see them, the residents said.

“People aren't going to drive on that road because there are trucks there,” said Ira Lindauer, Dana’s husband. “So we were not notified.”

But by the time the second notice was issued on Sept. 13, the residents had found out about the permitting process and had begun to mobilize. As a consequence, the TCEQ had received 160 responses: 18 comments, 13 public meeting requests and 129 contested case hearing requests. But because contested case hearing requests can only be made during the first time frame, the residents’ only option was Thursday’s meeting. A formal hearing would have given residents more influence on the final outcome and would have occurred earlier in the permitting process.

In fact, according to NAPCO’s attorney, TCEQ already has told the company that the permit will be issued and the meeting was only a formality.

Nevertheless, TCEQ officials assured residents Thursday that their comments will be considered in the final decision. It said the decision could take longer than the typical 60 days because of the large volume of complaints the agency has to sift through.

Most of the meeting was spent on residents’ health concerns.

In spring 2014, TCEQ launched an investigation based on a complaint of cement dust by Vicki Stephens-Jackson, who along with her husband, Eugene, lives directly behind NAPCO. Environmental investigator Bernice Beck came out to investigate NAPCO, which mixes and casts cement into forms for parking garages and sports stadiums. She reported that she didn’t see the dust problem.

“I did not observe dust leaving NAPCO’s property and blow towards the complainant’s property, and the trees between the complainant’s neighborhood and NAPCO did not show signs of excessive dust,” Beck wrote.

Celinda Mallen, 59, and Isidoro Mallen, 58, just moved into a home near the plant with their daughter, Celinda Celest Mallen, 18, two years ago.

“I had never had nose bleeds,” Celinda Mallen said at the meeting. “The first time I saw blood over me was when I was taking a shower. I had the soap in front of me, and all of a sudden I see a lot of blood all over my body. I couldn’t stop that blood. I had to go to the doctor and they had to burn my veins. … My daughter has never had asthma — she has asthma now.”

Though NAPCO references TCEQ’s report that dust is not a problem, Davidson told the community at the meeting that his company will explore installing a 10-foot-high fence on the backside of the company’s property — in the direction of the homes — similar to one that was installed on the front side.

“That's, at least, what we're exploring right now,” Davidson said of the gesture.

When asked where he thought the dust may be coming from, Davidson said, “I don't want to speculate. I am not an environmental engineer. I wish I was — I’d have a lot more answers.”

This is Round 2 of NAPCO vs. nearby residents. Between 1998 and 2000, the two fought over similar issues. That dispute ended with the City Council approving a compromise limited NAPCO’s hours of operation to normal business hours Monday through Friday.

That ordinance is still in effect. And although NAPCO’s standard use permit allows for 24/7 operation, the company says it only batches concrete during normal business hours. The racket residents hear over night, Davidson says, is “product being stripped from the forms.”

Residents complained about loud banging, drivers playing music with their horns and other cacophony during the wee hours of the morning. Davidson said he would talk with his workers and investigate those complaints.

Strangely, the TCEQ isn’t finished investigating dust complaints — on Feb. 18, the agency received another one.

“An investigation was initiated and is currently open,” TCEQ media relations manager Terry Clawson wrote in an email.

Benjamin Olivo started at the Express-News in 1996 taking down high school football starts on Friday night's in the sports department. He's also worked on the Metro, business and features desks. He's been writing about downtown San Antonio on The Downtown Blog on mySA.com since June 2008, and in the weekly Downtown Dispatches column in the Express-News since spring 2012.