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Austin loves its BBQ, but the smoke -- not so much

People living in one Austin neighborhood are fuming over Terry Black’s Barbecue smoke stacks, which they say are causing health issues
Neighbors demand Austin BBQ joint clear the air 03:03

Bragging rights for Texas barbecue joints are being replaced by a legal battle. People living in one Austin neighborhood are fuming over smoke, which they say is causing health issues.

At Terry Black's Barbecue, juicy cuts of beef and pork are smoked for hours, reports CBS News correspondent Mireya Villarreal.

"We're doing it the old school way. It's only wood, and it's only fire, and it's just manpower," Michael Black said.

Michael and his twin, Mark, along with their father, opened Terry Black's Barbecue in Austin just over a year ago. The family has operated another legendary restaurant in Lockhart, the barbecue capital of Texas, since 1932. According to Mark, customers come back multiple times a week.

The restaurant has five smoke pits, and several burn almost around the clock. That's the meat of the problem. Texans love the smell of a good barbecue -- but the smoke, not so much.

"I could smell it inside the house. It's like an invasion. I felt like I was being invaded," Luis Guerra said.

Guerra moved into the neighborhood 35 years ago. His backyard is at the same level as the restaurant's smoke stacks. Guerra said the smoke is affecting property values and causing health problems.

"Everybody was starting to suffer from congestion and headaches and red eyes and sniffling noses..." he said.

In response to complaints, the brothers put in equipment that dilutes the smoke and sends it up higher into the air.

"It's made all the difference in the world. When you look at the stacks, you can't see smoke," Michael said.

Guerra and 14 of his neighbors still had a beef with all the smoke and sued.

The City Council got involved, too. It considered a proposal to require scrubbers on all smokers, turning up the heat on the other estimated 1,900 barbecue joints in Texas.

Skeeter Miller, restaurateur and president of the Greater Austin Restaurant Association, worried about the effect of copycat laws on the state's barbecue industry.

"The economic impact of it would have been substantial," Miller said. "Not many people can afford a scrubber that costs $60,000, and $100,000 to maintain."

The proposed ordinance is now on the back burner. The Black brothers say they've cut back on the number of pits used daily and the amount of time smoking meat.

But the neighbors want the smoke gone completely. They suggest cooking the meat off site and trucking it in.

"Is this all about money?" Guerra was asked.

"It's about clean air in my yard. It's about being able to play with my grandkids in the yard," he responded. "It's not about money at all."

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