Too close for comfort

There was also a view of a 5-acre salt yard across the street, and at the far edge of the property, owned by Eastern Salt, a 50-foot-high salt pile stood. But the Castillos figured they could live with it. The couple had embraced challenges and hard work all their lives - Pablo had come from the Dominican Republic in 1981, and Anna had arrived from Poland in 1984 - and by the time they married in 1987, they had opened an electronics shop in Chelsea and dreamed of buying a home.

In the mid-1990s, Eastern Salt shifted around the salt and placed a 50-foot-high pile directly in front of the Castillos’ house, blocking their view of Boston. Meanwhile, the Castillos tried to get used to the noise and dust that came from the plant, which unloads 800,000 tons of salt a year from ships that come from countries such as Chile, Mexico, and Ireland. The company serves as a major road salt supplier for about half of the state’s municipalities.

For decades, the piles were uncovered, and only in the past several years has the company placed a tarp over them. These days, a red, white, and blue covering holds the piles that rise like jagged hills next to Chelsea Creek.

“There is no quality of life here,’’ said Anna, who says living across the street from the plant has altered her moods, curtailed her sleep, forced her to clean and dust constantly, and kept her from opening her windows.

“When we moved here I was thinking I’d sit outside, breathe fresh air, talk to my neighbors, and enjoy life,’’ said Pablo. “Now, I can’t even open a window - I feel like I’m living in a box.’’

The Castillos said they don’t need an alarm clock. From fall until spring, their house vibrates just before 5 a.m. The shaking comes from salt trucks that rumble down Marginal Street and into the Eastern Salt yard. On busy days, when salt is needed for snow and ice storms, the trucks line up even earlier.

“There’s a tunnel of sound and everything goes into my house - all of the noise and the diesel fumes,’’ Anna said. She thinks inhaling the salt - which she says drifts onto her cars, windowsills, and into her doorways - may be making her sick. “I have a lot of pain in my muscles and joints. I suspect it’s from the salt.’’

Joe McNamee, Eastern Salt’s manager, says the salt is not harmful and is the same substance people use on food. “The salt is very coarse; it doesn’t drift,’’ he said.

The Castillos said they pass their evenings like many of their neighbors, but in an exaggerated way. They turn up the volume on their TV or stereo to drown out the idling trucks, use a central air conditioner, and surf the Internet to plan country vacations away from industrial areas.

They also would like to move, but wonder who would want to live across from a salt plant.

“These days nobody wants to buy the house,’’ said Pablo. “We put a lot of money into the house but we cannot sell it. We’re trapped.’’

Steven Rosenberg can be reached at srosenberg@globe.com.