NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Patience has run out for some homeowners near the Harpeth River in Franklin.

Video: Franklin Families File Lawsuit In Creek Pollution Case

Residents said they plan to sue Egyptian Lacquer, which is the company they said has been polluting their property for years.

The company is a paint manufacturer that has been given what some called extraordinary latitude by the state to clean up pollution the company admitted was its fault.

Two chemicals were found last year leaking into nearby Liberty Creek and another chemical was found in a survey earlier this year; two of the chemicals that have been found in the water and soil including benzene and toluene, which are considered dangerous.

The residents presented Egyptian Lacquer with a 90-day notice of intention to sue. They said that after 14 months since the chemicals were first discovered to be leaking, they are fed up.

Scott Martin said he has never sued anyone, but his children’s well-being caused him to take action.

"The fact that I don’t know what long-term exposure of these chemicals is doing to my family, and also the whole length the process has taken. It’s been a year and a half since all this was found and, really, hardly anything’s been done," he said.

Martin and several of his neighbors pointed out a Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation document ordering Egyptian Lacquer to develop a correction plan within 90 days that they said was issued almost a year ago.

Piles of dirt that were dug up for testing still lie in a pile.

"This is somebody’s back yard, and this is the part that they can’t use while this whole process is going on. So, obviously we have an interest in getting Egyptian Lacquer to move along a whole lot faster. The idea that this can go on for 10 or 15 years is just not acceptable," said the families’ attorney Elizabeth Murphy.

An Egyptian Lacquer representative said it has already spent $700,000 cleaning up and has done nothing wrong.

Bill Penny, the company’s attorney, said, "There is no imminent and substantial endangerment, and we have otherwise been in total compliance with all state and federal laws in regards to the correction action at the site."

Murphy said that while the families are suing the company, the state has dropped the ball.

"The state has asked everybody for patience. The state has asked everybody to let Egyptian Lacquer do this on their own timeline in a voluntary capacity. But that’s just not working," she said.

TDEC said it has done a number of positive things it is not being credited for like testing well water, disconnecting lines, building an interceptor track and rejecting Egyptian Lacquer’s correction plan. It said Egyptian Lacquer has been asked to submit another correction plan and that it has forced the company to spend about $980,000.