New Moss Bluff car wash notified of environmental violations amid complaints from neighbors

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Some residents of a Moss Bluff neighborhood claim life hasn’t been the same since a car wash moved into the area.

It has been almost three months since Mike’s Car Wash opened along Sam Houston Parkway in Moss Bluff. For those three months, neighbors said they’ve had to deal with excessive noise.

“I can’t enjoy my backyard. I can’t even enjoy my house because it is inside my house, it’s in my backyard. My kids can’t enjoy playing in their backyard, and they have always loved to play outside,” a nearby resident said.

Back in March, the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury found the car wash in violation of two ordinances: not providing proper screening, like a fence, and having improper lighting fixtures, which neighbors said were shining into their windows at night.

Mike’s has since put up a fence, but neighbors said it’s not enough to dampen the sound.

One neighbor, who now wears earplugs when working in the yard, invited us over to measure the noise.

“I am hiding behind a house that is 20 feet tall, so putting up something tall maybe is not the way to fix it, unless you got something that can absorb the sound or deflect it,” said that neighbor.

The National Institute on Deafness said sound at or below 70 decibels is considered safe.

“Depending on the day or the wind, it is ranging from 70 decibels to about 85 decibels,” an anonymous resident said.

We’re told any noise complaints about the business will be handled by the sheriff’s office.

Meanwhile, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality notified the carwash of violations, including failure to submit a pollution elimination system permit application and unauthorized discharge of pollutants.

Dr. Robert Cochran of Moss Bluff Family Dental said the ditches in front of his practice have always been clean but since the car wash moved in next door, they’ve been routinely flooded with unnatural-looking water.

Neighbors said since the carwash was opened, their ditches are never dry, always holding some of the blue-green water.

“I have standing water in my yard and so does my neighbor, it has a very weird look to it and it smells really weird, and the water has never been here before and we have lived here for several years,” a resident said.

The DEQ is giving Mike’s Car Wash 30 days to submit a written response and take immediate corrective action.

KPLC has reached out to the owners of Mike’s Car Wash for comment, but we have not heard back.