If they have reason to believe that, eg, the timing of the appearance of this cluster lines up with (to pull a hypothetical out of the air) industrial waste dum

If they have reason to believe that, eg, the timing of the appearance of this cluster lines up with (to pull a hypothetical out of the air) industrial waste dumping in the Acadian peninsula water supply, attempting to muddy the water over whether this is a cluster with a shared cause or a bunch of fluke one-offs is certainly in their interests.