The City of San Antonio has tightened regulations on metal and auto recyclers, but some community members are hoping more will be done to keep neighborhoods safe from industrial fires and other environmental concerns.
Residents of the Villas de Esperanza neighborhood would hear what sounded like explosions nearby. Sometimes they’d find orange dust caked on their cars parked outside in their driveways.
In past years, recurrent fires at metal and auto recyclers prompted elected officials to take a closer look at how safely these industrial companies are operating.
Neighborhood president Tricia Fayadh, who has lived in her home since 1997, says new ordinances passed last month are an improvement, but she’s still concerned.
She worries about the exposure to waste materials and pollutants coming from a nearby facility. There are 24 metal recyclers and 38 used auto parts recyclers in San Antonio, according to the city’s department of development services.
“It just depends on which way the wind blows,” she said. “One doesn’t know what effect it could have on health.”
Monterrey Metal Recycling Solutions is located in City Council District 5, near Port San Antonio, on 2300 Frio City Rd. The facility is less than half a mile away from the Thompson and the Villas de Esperanza neighborhoods. According to these neighborhood associations, residents have been affected by pollutants, noise, and — when fires broke out — the smoke coming from the facility.
For the past 25 years, Fayadh said her family would hear explosions that seemed to come from Monterrey about twice a year. She said the loud explosions would sometimes happen twice in a single day.
Fayadh said she believes that had it not been for the public talks, explosions would still be happening at Monterrey. She had been recording the time and date of explosions; the last one she heard was at 10:24 a.m. Feb. 28, 2024.
Fayadh said she was told by Monterrey staff that crushed cylinders caused the explosions as they got shredded.
But even if the explosions are a thing of the past, Fayadh said the smell of gas is still a problem to this day.
There are about 50 to 60 houses in Villas de Esperanza, and they are all in range of the smells and dust and sounds, Fayadh said.
“We shouldn’t be living like this. We are not living in a third world country,” she said. “Just because they (the community) live in an industrial neighborhood, they shouldn’t be subjected to those conditions”
Increased regulation took 13 years
On May 15, the city updated ordinances meant to prevent fires and enforce licensing conditions at recycling facilities. This came after years of public outcry and conversations prompted by fires and pollution from the facilities. Per the new ordinances, the regulations will receive a review every five years. The last time the ordinances were updated was in 2012.
District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo spearheaded the conversation at City Council when she submitted a council consideration request in November 2023. She called for improving the regulations that had not been reviewed in over a decade. A task force was formed, which allowed community members to meet with industry leaders. They met 18 times.
Castillo said the conversations focused on Chapter 11, Fire Prevention, and Chapter 16, Licenses and Business regulations. Modifications to Chapter 16 on the city’s Code of Ordinances website can be seen here.
All metal and auto recyclers in the city are now required to provide a fire prevention plan and a fire safety path for first responders when getting or renewing the business’ license.
“In a worst-case scenario, they are now required to have a plan to prevent any incident,” Castillo said.
Between 2019 and 2023, six fires were reported at — as it was known at the time —- Monterrey Iron and Metal. The company was rebranded as Monterrey Metal Recycling Solutions in 2024.
Additionally, per the new rules, metal and auto recyclers also will have two days instead of 30 to correct violations. Licenses can be suspended or revoked if three or more citations are found in a rolling 12-month period.
Recommendations also were made for sites to keep weeds and brush at four inches instead of 12, with pest and vector control to limit transmitted diseases.
Castillo said Districts 4 and 5, on the west and southwest side, house 79% of the 62 licensed facilities in San Antonio.
Monterrey denies wrongdoing
In an June 3 email, Jeff Vexler, vice president of Monterrey Metal Recycling Solutions, said he is unsure how they can be “singled out” as a cause of smells considering the location of the facility, which is found in “a highly industrial corridor of San Antonio, home to Port San Antonio and a large number of manufacturing and processing businesses.”
In the immediate vicinity is a railyard, a crematorium, a silica plant, and many more large-scale industries, he said.
Vexler said it’s important to consider the placement of Monterrey, which is considered a I-2 zone, or highly industrial area, “abutted by a rail line on one side and a road on the other and has no adjacent residential properties.”
He said all equipment is electrically powered. “We do not use natural gas … our shredder is designed with a water injection system to cool the metal during processing. Any visible emissions are water vapor, not smoke.”
Vexler said Monterrey is committed to being a responsible member of the community, monitored by the San Antonio Water System, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the city.
According to the TCEQ, Monterrey has an “above-satisfactory” compliance record as of Sept. 1. Ratings are updated annually every September.
Neighbors acknowledge progress, hope for more
Rudy Lopez, vice president of the Thompson Neighborhood Association, said the new ordinances are not a thorough victory; there is work yet to be done.
“It was a win and lose because we did get a few things changed in the ordinances, but there’s other things that could’ve been addressed,” Lopez said.
Metal shredders are on the list to improve. Lopez said there’s nothing in the ordinances dictating how to run them nor how to manage what comes out of them. He also said the piles of material go much higher than the regulated limit tied to the fences’ height, which is about 8 feet.
Per the amended ordinances, “any piles of crushed vehicles or salvage materials in compliance with the International Fire Code … are excluded from this requirement.”
Lopez also said it’s unrealistic for the very few inspector officers to account for the 62 metal and used auto part facilities in the city.
There are, in total, two officers that enforce zoning and building permit violations. Six officers are available for licensing.
“I know that we are satisfied, mostly; the outcome could’ve been better,” Lopez said. “I’m glad that something is done because it’s better than nothing being done.
“And I think that now, the industry knows that in fact they can’t just keep on dumping on us because we will speak up,” Lopez continued. “We will stand up and say something. To me, that’s a win. When we got the attention that we needed, rightfully so, that’s a win.”
Fayadh said she will continue to be a catalyst for her neighborhood. “I see something wrong, I speak up.”
Their purpose is not to close down Monterrey or other facilities like them, but for them to act responsibly toward the community, she added.
“It’s a good start, but there’s still work to be done … I smell gas all the time. We are inhaling these fumes,” she said.
