CONYERS, Ga. — At Cheryl Garcia's house, the start of fall typically brings a harvest of happiness. But for the second-straight September, her season of sharing is clouded with concerns.

"Once you taste it, it's like, wow, that's really special," Garcia told 11Alive. "Do we eat or do we not? Do we get cancer? It's like, help us."

That internal debate began on a day marked by a sky full of smoke on Sept. 29, 2024, when a fire broke out at the BioLab plant in Rockdale County, several miles from her house. An estimated 17,000 residents were forced to leave their homes due to the release of toxic chemical compounds following the plant's eruption .

"You could taste some metallic taste in your mouth, and you could smell chlorine. It was pretty strong," Garcia said. "During that time, I r

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