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THREAD on my latest story on #Enbridge's compressor station in #Weymouth MA. Comparing the amended lab's (Alpha Analytical) air pollution report the DEP revealed last week, to the original report it produced in August '18 raises, serious new concerns 1/12 desmogblog.com/2019/05/22/mas…
Not only does the report show Alpha originally found at least 12 *newly disclosed* toxins & carcinogens in the Fore River Basin, but another toxin, acetaldehyde, detected in several samples in the early report, curiously disappears in the same samples in the new report 2/12
Here's an example: On the left, from the original report, acetaldehyde is detected as a Tentatively Identified Compound (TIC). On the right, from the amended report, in the same sample acetaldehyde is missing. This discrepancy occurs in several different samples. 3/12 
Acetaldehyde was detected in these cases in elevated levels above state allowable limits (AAL). If there's a simple explanation for these discrepancies, neither DEP nor Alpha provided them. I've repeatedly asked both yesterday for an explanation & comment, but received none. 4/12
The EPA classifies acetaldehyde as a probable carcinogen. It will be emitted by the compressor station, and was even modeled by Enbridge in its original air permit application. 5/12
My reporting also raises questions about DEP's version for how the amended pollution data came about. DEP claims it originally asked Alpha to test for 64 toxins but that the lab only produced a report for 40. 6/12
Other than the unlikelihood that for 6 months during the HIA and 4 months afterwards, no one at DEP noticed they were working with a narrow list (big difference between 64 and 40!), internal DEP docs I've obtained raise questions about this very version. 7/12
The original March '18 lab request from Alpha, approved by senior DEP air officials, includes an attachment of the narrow target list, known as MCP TO-15. 8/12
The invoices Alpha sent DEP during the July-August '18 analyses it conducted indicate the lab was working to produce the MCP TO-15 list. 9/12
In an August '18 email from Alpha to DEP air officials, the lab indicates it is working according to MCP TO-15. 10/12
Later in August '18, an internal document crafted by the DEP in preparation for a presentation of air sampling data at a public meeting during the HIA states that only 40 VOCs are being tested - i.e. the narrow list. 11/12
In sum, there's ample evidence DEP had plenty of indications the lab was working to produce the narrow toxins list. This is not the first time DEP works with Alpha. The department likely knew the lab can produce a more extensive analysis list of toxins. 12/12
