Formaldehyde Levels Raise Concerns For Fore River Residents

QUINCY, MA — The amount of the chemical formaldehyde in the air near Fore River has Braintree, Quincy, Hingham, and Weymouth residents concerned, considering that energy company Algonquin wants to build a massive natural gas compressor station on the river banks.

A public meeting was held to discuss current environmental factors that could be further affected by the proposed 7,700-horsepower facility. The basin for the Fore River is already highly industrialized, so the state required a health assessment study to determine air quality.

Formaldehyde levels measured no differently than similar testing sites in Boston, Lynn and Chicopee, according to Glenn Keith, a deputy director with the state Department of Environmental Protection. Most other chemical levels are below the threshold for danger, he said.

Several residents were not put at ease by this, however, because even if the levels compare to the other sites, they are still above state thresholds. The recommended threshold for formaldehyde is 2 micrograms per cubic meter, but during a 14-day testing period this summer, levels averaged 2.8 micrograms per cubic meter in the area. On one day, officials at the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority pump station in Weymouth tested levels reaching 7.5 micrograms per cubic meter.

Other residents expressed concern, claiming the health of the region is already worse than the state average. Curtis Nordgaard, a pediatrician who practices in Dorchester, sees a lot of patients from the South Shore. He said asthma and heart attacks already occur more frequently in Braintree, Quincy and Weymouth than most of the rest of the state.

For more on this story, check out the Patriot Ledger.

Image via Shutterstock