The pollution issue has been hanging over a big Madison business, and a popular neighborhood for a very long time. Now some neighbors of Madison Kipp Corporation plan to sue the company, reports Linda Eggert in Part I of her special I-Team series.

Some people have already moved away because of Kipp, which is operating legally. But as emissions have soared, more than tenfold over the last decade, no one has answered some key questions: Is there something going on in the neighborhood, and is that related to Kipp?

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MADISON, Wis. -- Traditional manufacturers are disappearing from the city of Madison, but one company is growing strong.

The century-old Madison-Kipp Corporation melts aluminum and zinc, creating products and jobs for 600 people.

NEWS 3 I-TEAM News 3's Linda Eggert has been following the Kipp pollution case. Read and watch her special I-Team reports: PART I: Watch It Read It PART II: I-Team: Kipp Contamination, Part II Read It Follow-Up: Kipp Responds More I-Team Reports Contact Linda Eggert Kipp Corp. Statement RESOURCES Madison Health Department EPA: Toxic Air Pollutants

But with all the prosperity comes air pollution -- tons of it -- and a neighborhood controversy that's not going away.

"We filed a 60-day notice," said Frank Jabloski, an attorney and neighborhood resident. "We intend to file a lawsuit against Kipp."

In the Schenk-Atwood neighborhood residents work, play and live in the shadow of Kipp's smokestacks. Both the DNR and Kipp say their emissions are at levels safe for humans.

"We look at Kipp and see if they're meeting those standards or not, and currently they are meeting those standards," said Biren Patel, an air quality engineer for the DNR.

"If our emissions are at, you know, far below the health standards -- there can't be a concern that we're doing any damage to the neighbors and anyone's health," Mark Meunier, of Kipp's human resources said in April.

But News 3 finds there is concern and frustration.

"We think that the DNR is not doing its job," Jabloski said.

After a decade of public hearings and hundreds of complaints, Kipp's emission limits aren't going down, they're going up.

For instance, new permits allow Kipp to potentially increase airborne particle emissions 61 tons a year, nearly 55 percent above the last DNR limit.

Kipp says it won't, but some are more than leery.

Ann Chacon, a 23-year resident of the neighborhood, said she's been wearing an expensive gas mask to bed for almost seven years, after an asthma like attack took her the hospital emergency room.

"The hazardous chemicals and the very toxic chemicals that Kipp is producing, this protects me against, and it lets me breathe without pain or nausea," she said. "It literally hurt to breathe at night when Kipp's production is the most intense."

Chacon is part of Clean Air Madison, a citizens' group planning to sue Kipp for allegedly violating the Federal Clean Air Act. She remains convinced Kipp's emissions are not safe.

Others also believe it's time for action.

"I believe that people are sick around here, and that as time goes on we are getting sicker," one resident told News 3.

Another resident, Leslie Kohlberg, said she fears what could happen to their health down the road.

"A lot of us fear that we may really be living in denial of something that will catch up with us later," she said.

Kohlberg worries her kids and others at Lowell School may be breathing harmful pollution from Kipp. It has a second foundry just a couple blocks away.

"I can sense that smell, and I have a physical reaction, which usually is a combination of nausea and headache," one 43-year-year old resident told News 3. The resident also told News 3 she's had severe headaches for two years. Her ears are constantly plugged, and she says she wakes up feeling like she's hungover. Tests and doctors haven't helped.

"I don't want people to lose their jobs, I mean, that's not what this is about. For me, it's about my health," she said.

She said she loves her neighborhood, but wonders if she'll have to move like others, due to illness. She wants Kipp to install pollution filter technology, and the city to do a health study.

That was about to happen a few years ago until national experts said the study wouldn't hold up "against scientific scrutiny, against political scrutiny, against legal scrutiny," said John Hausbeck of Madison's public health department.

Hausbeck said the health complaints didn't contain enough detail. The DNR says the bottom line is Kipp's emissions meet public health standards.

"The DNR would not grant us a permit if we were in violation of air quality standards," Meunier said.

Kipp wouldn't answer specific questions for this report, due to possible litigation. But News 3 has learned Kipp is asking the DNR to withdraw a four-month-old violation notice for exceeding its previous emission limit.

Last month, the DNR approved higher limits for Kipp, but it has yet to act on the violation.