BASTROP, Texas (KXAN) – The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has slapped Darling Ingredients, the operator of a Bastrop animal byproduct rendering facility, with a notice of enforcement for seven alleged violations related to wastewater flowing into a creek, nuisance odors, equipment operation failures and record-keeping lapses.
Darling Ingredients’ facility turns animal byproducts, including chicken feathers and blood, into pet and livestock feed. It also repurposes used cooking oil from local restaurants into raw ingredients used to make renewable fuel. The company has told KXAN it wants to be a “good neighbor” and is spending millions to address the odor and facility issues.
That recycling process, however, has raised a stink. Neighbors in the path of odors from the plant – some as far as 10 miles to the north and south – have described the smells as fecal, death-like and similar to “burning wet feathers.”
TCEQ Investigation Reports On DemandDownload
The TCEQ’s “notice of enforcement” could lead to thousands of dollars in fines. Residents hope state-level enforcement could bolster their effort to end foul odors that have prompted hundreds of complaints against the Bastrop facility in recent years. Locals have also banded together to speak out at public TCEQ meetings and online through an ad hoc website and social media.
Kathryn Guerra, Public Citizen’s TCEQ campaign director, has assisted with the effort to hold Darling accountable for the Bastrop facility’s past environmental violations and recent alleged ones. She previously worked in compliance assistance at TCEQ and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Justice Division.
“The grassroots campaign that these neighbors have started is out of necessity because neither the TCEQ or Darling are acting in, you know, responsible and proactive and protective ways,” Guerra told KXAN. The local community members are “absolutely resolved that they are not going to stop, or let this issue go, until Darling and the TCEQ resolve it.”
Editor’s Note: The above video is KXAN’s coverage from Nov. 5, 2025.
Elgin resident Corbett Jones has been at the forefront of the “grassroots” effort to spotlight Darling Ingredients’ proliferating odors. He’s lived in Elgin for five years. For the first few years, he caught some intermittent foul smells, but they weren’t frequent enough to bother him, he said. That changed in the past couple of years.
The smells have become far more frequent and, at times, “unbearable,” he said.
Corbett and others created the Stop the Stink Bastrop website, which links to the TCEQ’s complaint submission page. It’s no coincidence there has been a marked increase in complaints against the facility – totaling nearly 200 so far this year, according to TCEQ’s records.
A spokesperson for Darling Ingredients told KXAN the company is “continuing to work on upgrades to our Bastrop facility, which will optimize performance for the benefit of the local community.”
“Complying with the law is a top priority for us, and we are committed to being a good neighbor. We encourage the community to visit www.darlingii.com/bastrop to easily report concerns and stay informed on our ongoing upgrade projects,” the company said in its statement.
As the number of complaints ballooned in the past two years, TCEQ travelled to the site and investigated multiple times.
On July 9, the environmental regulator approved an agreed order for Darling Ingredients with a $39,000 penalty for violations – including nuisance odors and excessive airborne hydrogen sulfide – dating back to July and October 2024. Hydrogen sulfide gas can be toxic to humans, causing eye irritation, dizziness and nausea, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More penalties could be on the way. TCEQ investigated the facility this summer and fall and issued a notice of enforcement last month detailing seven violations:
Darling Ingredients responded to the latest enforcement order, saying it is working with TCEQ and will “respond through the agency’s established process.”
“In the meantime, we are continuing to work on upgrades to our Bastrop facility, which will optimize performance for the benefit of the local community,” a company spokesperson said.
The TCEQ’s “established process” can take many months. The agency takes an average of about 350 days to process an enforcement case and get it approved by commissioners, according to the agency’s latest biennial report.
Guerra called that pace of enforcement a “big problem for the community.”
She was also critical of what she described as a TCEQ policy against issuing additional violations when a company is already under enforcement for the same violation.
“The fact that they give them a blanket exemption from being enforced upon for such a significant period of time is unfair to residents who are having to live with the consequences of those very weak enforcement policies,” Guerra said.
In response to KXAN’s questions, TCEQ said it has an active enforcement case against Darling, but it would not comment on pending litigation. The agency did not respond to Guerra’s comments about its enforcement process taking nearly a year, on average, or its policy against issuing additional violations against a company for the same problem while it is under enforcement.
Corbett wasn’t hopeful the TCEQ’s previous nearly $40,000 fine against the company would have much effect. He called it a “drop in the bucket” for a multi-billion-dollar corporation.
“They know how to control their smells. We are just asking that they do it here,” Corbett said. “None of us are eager to see Darling shut down or leave the area. We just feel they can operate and not pollute everywhere.”
512-215-3747
Service Areas
