"This has been terrible, the noise and dust," one resident said.
"They are right on top of you," another neighbor said. "You hear cling, clinging all the time."
"I'm angry," a resident told us. "They don't have a right to come in and do this."
"It's like a David and Goliath fight. Residents against a billion dollar oil company," another said.
Residents on Northwood Drive in Conroe say what used to be a quiet little neighborhood has now been turned upside down by National Oilwell Varco oil company, or NOV, as it prepares to expand its operations on the land and add a proposed test drilling rig behind homes.
The actual proposed rig, which NOV says will test products and services before shipping them out without producing oil or gas, has not been approved yet. Despite that, residents say the initial construction is already a noise nuisance, and the proposed 22-foot tall earth berm and soundwall on the way is creating even more problems.
"The dust created a health hazard," one neighbor told us.
"We've never had rain water in our home and it came in and we had to take care of it," another said.
We called NOV about these concerns. The company declined an on-camera interview but sent us a written statement, saying in part, "We have made every attempt to design this facility so that we will be good neighbors and we regret any inconvenience that may have experienced. We will continue to meet with residents throughout the construction process."
For residents, that's just not enough.
"We'd like to see them move to another site or as far away as it can be," one neighbor said.
"They ought to spend the night over here a few days and maybe listen to that noise," another suggested.
Residents have already met with NOV and have another meeting planned.
