SAN ANTONIO — Residents on San Antonio's southwest-side are calling for accountability.
The area is home to most of the city's metal and recycling plants. Most are located in District 4, followed by District 5.
Since 2016, there has been a string of fires at the scrap centers, which residents say is impacting the air quality and their health.
Now, a cluster of southwest side neighborhoods are banding together to further address the issue. At least eight neighborhood associations met with local, state and federal representatives in a private meeting Wednesday night at the South San Civic Center to learn and share updates on the matter.
Since KENS 5's last report on the matter, a city councilwoman filed a policy proposal to review city code on these plants. In addition to that, a state senator gave an update from the courts. He said the recycling plant responsible for six fires since 2019 is headed to trial.
"We felt a little bit ignored at the beginning of all this," said Rudy Lopez, Vice President of the Thompson Neighborhood Association.
It's positive news that's long overdue for Lopez.
"The quality of life is dramatically affected by what's going on in the salvage yard," he said.
Next month, city leaders could approve creating a committee that will examine current city codes for salvage yards and search for any opportunities for more enforcement and accountability.
It's a Council Consideration Request (CCR) filed by District 5 Councilwoman Terri Castillo.
"These metal recycling businesses are multimillion dollar businesses. When we look at the fines that are associated with them, they're very minimal. So what we've learned is that oftentimes some of them are issued citations. They go to court, but they have resources to to take care of it quickly. Then we're back to square one," Castillo explained.
Castillo said the entity that's in charge of regulating metal and recycle plants is the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Although the oversight is on a federal level, Castillo says her office has been in contact with the recycling plant companies around enforcement and accountability even prior to the string of fires.
"There's been ongoing concerns around what are folks breathing in when these fires occur and when the metals are being compacted. And then also, where is the water runoff going when the fire department responds to those calls?" Castillo explained. "We're sending our public safety officials, our firefighters, out to these scenes to put out these contaminants. They're inhaling and the neighborhoods are inhaling who knows what. We need to ensure that there is a strong enforcement and accountability if you're causing harm to our constituents."
The most recent fire at Monterrey Iron & Metal off Frio City Road in September burned for more than 10 hours, sending plumes of smoke into the nearby Thompson neighborhood.
In a town hall meeting the following month, Thompson neighbors told state and local leaders these fires are hazardous to their health.
"Really, I had no idea there are so many children in our community that have breathing problems already to begin with. So the smoke just added on to the problems that these kids were having," said Lopez, who went door to door in the Thompson neighborhood getting testimonies from neighbors.
"After our last town hall, we had so many neighborhood associations reach out to us and tell us how they're also having problems with metal recycling and and salvage yard. They're part of district five," said Lopez.
State Senator José Menéndez said in December, Monterrey Iron & Metal was brought before a judge due to code compliance violations. He said the company requested a jury trial.
In KENS 5's previous reporting on the fires, Jordan Vexler, COO for Monterrey Iron & Metal, said the majority of the six fires were beyond their control and/or they were found not responsible for the resulting fire.
"This is not a witch hunt against anybody. Recycling is an important thing so that things stay out of the landfill. It's a good thing. But as long as it's done in a safe way, where we don't have these explosions, we don't have the fires," explained Menéndez, who attended Wednesday night's meeting. "We're not going to stand for any type of environmental injustice just because this may be a poorer side of town."
Menéndez said he met with TCEQ representatives Tuesday. He learned there are no federal grandfather clauses protecting recycling plants.
"They have to abide by every law that everybody else does. My understanding that the only grandfathering that they had was from the city in terms of their location because they had been there so long," said Menéndez. "They have to comply with all the rules and regulations. It does not excuse them from anything. I just allows them to continue their business up until the fact that if they stop doing that, then they're going to be potentially looking at a revocation of their license."
The next step is Councilwoman Castillo's request needs to be put on an agenda. From there, council will be briefed on the recommendations. Then, Castillo can move forward with an ad hoc committee made up of all stakeholders to look into city code. Stakeholders include neighborhood representatives, members of the city's Development Services department, members of the San Antonio Fire Department and recycling industry personnel.
Castillo said a multi-pronged approach in collaboration with state leaders will enact the change the community wishes to see.
"Ultimately it's going to take a coalition of our Texas delegation to put forth statewide policy, to have stronger enforcement, with these metal recyclers and auto metal recyclers," she said.
The next town hall is set for February at the VFW off Frio City Road. A date and time will be announced soon.