Legless puppies, the cement plants of Midlothian, and Joe Barton

They're all connected, and Tom Boyle, a Republican, tells the frightening story of how in a D Magazine article that begins, "My wife and I wanted a place in the country to raise our kids, so we moved to Midlothian, the cement capital of Texas. Then our neighbors started getting cancer, so we had to figure out why."

Expect to be sickened after reading about kids with cancer, Down's syndrome clusters, horses that won't breed, and yes, puppies born without legs or tails, all around the Ash Grove, Holcim, and Texas Industries (TXI) cement plants. Toss in Congressman "Smokey Joe" Barton's successful efforts to shield the companies from federal environmental standards, and you have a classic Texas story.

Though it feels bad to laugh, the story actually has some funny parts, like when Boyle describes his disbelief that he, a rock-ribbed Republican, finds himself associating with -- ghast! -- environmentalists.

"We were Mormons, for heaven’s sake," he writes. "I was a scoutmaster and Julie was a room mother. She had never knowingly voted for a Democrat. Ever. I may have, but I couldn’t remember when or why. It’s not that she suddenly wanted to open an abortion clinic or host a gay wedding, but she was starting to sound a little too much like something I knew we were not: Democrats."

Today Boyle and his wife run the Midlothian Family Network. No help yet from their Congressman, but Erin Brockovich is on the case.