Her dogs kept dying, and she got cancer. Then they tested her water.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

ELKTON, Md. - Debbie Blankenship’s wheelchair carved perfect lines in the grass as she rolled into her backyard garden, passing a wooden arch filled with small grapes, a bush with plump blueberries and yellow crates filled with sprouting potatoes.

She stopped at a dirt patch with a burial marker for her beagle - the latest of her dogs to die of cancer.

“They are all buried back here. It’s like a pet cemetery,” she said, catching her breath from navigating the hilly terrain. Gazing at the burial site, she spoke about her own long battle with cancer.

For decades, Blankenship chalked up her health problems, including losing her right leg to an infection, to bad luck. Then in 2023 she received a phone call from W.L. Gore & Associates, which makes waterproof membranes such as Gore-Tex and a host of other products. Gore wanted to test Blankenship’s well water for PFOA, a highly toxic “forever chemical” that was used to make PTFE, commonly known as Teflon.

-more-

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/her-dogs-kept-dying-she-182010673.html

[Behind the Aegis]

1. How awful!

It is amazing in the 21st Century, one of the most advanced countries in the world still has headlines like this. I would say she should sue, but that would be a waste of time and money, and likely, she isn't "allowed" to sue.

A few weeks back, my husband got really bad diarrhea so bad, it resulted in a week of antibiotics. While he was still on his regiment, I got it. Then, two of our dogs got it really bad (it was shit-ageedon in our house). The third of our five dogs came down with a severe case of the shits. Then, my husband gets an email;

All employees. Attention! Do NOT report to work this Sunday. The city has announced E. Coli in the water. We will update you on work closings as more information becomes available.

That's right, our city's water supply was infected with E. Coli! By the time we heard about this, all but two of our 5 dogs and our parrot had been infected. Then the city announces, "the water system has been purged, and is safe." That came Monday night, by then, the other two dogs were sick, including our 16yo chihuahua with kidney disease! This happened to several cities in NE OK, SE KS, and parts of Missouri.

Again, how did WE find out? My husband's company sent an email. The city NEVER notified us or ANYONE the water was tainted!

The day before the announcement (the city made a public announcement AFTER the fact) from my husband's company, I was raging because we got an emergency alert, the kind that SCREAMS through the house. I figured it was an Amber alert or, what has become, sadly, common here, a Silver Alert. Nope. It was an alert that (and this is how it was written): "ATTENTION! Be on the lookout for a MEXICAN looking male, approximately 35yo who is wanted for questioning in a near LEO shooting."

First, what is a "near LEO shooting"? And "MEXICAN-looking" (and yes, Mexican was in all caps)!? The kicker? This took place in HOUSTON. We live in NE OK, 10 hours away! But did we ever get,

"DON'T DRINK THE WATER. We done fucked up and let E. Coli in the water supply to an area of 75K individuals. OOPSIE!"

No! We get some racist bullshit about a "near LEO shooting" in another state, but nothing about our drinking water being poisoned!

Again, I am sorry for this woman and her beloved pets. It is a CRIME!

[Native]

2. the article was bad enough, but what you just went through is INSANE!

I always expect corporations to pull this kind of shit, but your local or state government? We literally can't trust anyone anymore.

[Behind the Aegis]

3. We were one of SEVERAL towns in OK that got taken over by MAGA because, y'know "DRAG QUEENS!"

Seriously, 3 board members lost their elections because they did NOT support legislation that would ban Drag Shows in public. The last two years here have been HELL!

[Danmel]

4. I'm so sorry

My husband spent several months working in Oklahoma City for the FAA. We have good friends who live in Norman. Their daughter-in-law has an independent bookstore there (green feather) which had issues because they sell books that the MAGA oppose. They ended up partnering with the Brooklyn Public Library (which is where i grew up) to provide a QR code, they can use to borrow books remotely.
I'm sorry you have to put up with that.

[Native]

5. i'm in Florida, so i get you.

that said, we are currently in Cleveland, and we just drove past one of these billboards tonight. turns out there are 26 of them around town!
https://www.clevescene.com/news/billboards-supporting-cuyahoga-valley-national-park-staff-pop-up-around-cleveland-amid-doge-cuts-46592014

[LymphocyteLover]

6. Oh no! Fucking Republicans truly suck.

[Solly Mack]

7. Yikes! I'm so sorry! That was awful.

[58Sunliner]

9. Horrific! I went through 4 days of illness before I found out our water was contaminated.

Not the first time either. RVA. I only drink filtered water so I did not get really sick, nor did my pets. I think I got a mild case from a shower. I am now installing a whole house filtration with a uv light as well. Expensive for me. The thought of taking a shower in water contaminated by feces is just so gross.

[slightlv]

12. Oh, Aegis...

what a nightmare to live through! I'm glad you guys made it through okay, finally, tho...

This is what we can expect more and more of, I'm afraid. With regulations pulled, oversight pulled, and corporations free to do (or not) as they please... such that it doesn't affect their bottom line, we are at their mercy (and they have none). The cynic in me sometimes wonder if this is an underlying plan of theirs in order to try to thin out the population. They scream bloody murder (literally) when you mention abortion or even birth control. But killing in mass after the fact? Doesn't phase them in the least. SMDH

[Solly Mack]

8. K&R

[niyad]

10. Aa modern day Hinckley.

[C Moon]

11. That's always been my worry about a friend of my wife's house...

Her husband died of cancer, and three of her dogs died of cancer. We started leaving our dog over there (I didn't want to), and she too ended up dying of cancer. We have a new dog, and I don't want it staying over there. Could be coincidence, I know, but hmmm.

[slightlv]

13. For me, coincidence flies out the window when a pattern can be established. nt