Method Detection Levels (MDLs)

Burt Gantz explains Method Detection Levels (MDLs) as adjustable thresholds that Kierney-Passaic engineers raise to 100 parts per billion (ppb) in Toby's office at night. This hides carcinogens from EPA soil reports. Mike probes the technical side until Counsel reveals Burt initialed the resulting falsified documents. Toby, Josh, and others react with alarm, shifting to legal strategy.

2 appearances

Purpose

Set minimum detectable concentration of contaminants in environmental soil testing; manipulated upward to exclude carcinogens from official EPA reports

Significance

Core tactic in Kierney-Passaic cover-up; Burt's initials on related documents trigger subpoena fears, forcing staff to pursue criminal immunity and framing the scandal as acute crisis

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S4E18 · Privateers

Hidden Numbers, Immediate Immunity

Method Detection Levels (MDLs) are named and explained as the technical mechanism by which carcinogens were hidden—raising MDLs to 100 ppb made toxic readings 'disappear' from official reports, turning a science detail into proof of deliberate manipulation.

Before: Operational procedure at Kierney-Passaic, used to produce sanitized report results.

After: Exposed in the room as the concealment method, now reframed as evidence of willful falsification that could support criminal charges.

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S4E18 · Privateers

Immunity Panic: Burt's Criminal Jeopardy

The Method Detection Levels (MDLs) are invoked as the technical mechanism Kierney-Passaic used to hide carcinogens — Mike and Burt discuss the 100 ppb adjustment, which grounds the legal accusation in a specific scientific manipulation.

Before: Set and used by Kierney-Passaic engineers to mask contaminant levels in official reports.

After: Revealed and named as a deliberate manipulation; becomes the technical core of the fraud allegation that sparks the immunity scramble.

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