WV Revokes License Of Lab That Faked Water Quality Reports On Coal Operations

[hatrack]

West Virginia regulators have revoked the state certification for a Raleigh County laboratory, following the guilty plea of a lab supervisor who admitted he and other employees falsified coal industry samples so mining operations would appear to be in compliance with water pollution standards.

The action by the state Department of Environmental Protection comes two weeks after John W. Shelton of Appalachian Laboratories Inc. pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to violate the Clean Water Act. “We revoked them,” said Linda Keller, program manager for lab certification at the DEP’s Division of Water and Waste Management. “There’s an order that has gone out already.”

In the order, signed on Tuesday by DEP water director Scott Mandirola, DEP said that Appalachian Laboratories “submitted false, inaccurate data to its clients” and to the agency. DEP ordered Appalachian to notify its clients that its certification had been revoked.

West Virginia law requires laboratories that perform water quality analysis for mining operations and other industries to obtain state certifications. Under DEP rules, the agency may revoke a lab certification if the lab “commits any falsification relating to certification, testing or reporting of analytical results.” Shelton, 49, of Daniels, admitted to a charge of conspiracy to violate the federal Clean Water Act. He admitted that he diluted water samples, substituted water he knew to be clean for actual mining discharges, and did not keep water samples refrigerated, as required by state and federal rules. Shelton was a field technician, and then a field supervisor, for Appalachian Laboratories.

EDIT

http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20141022/GZ01/141029727/1101

[sharp_stick]

1. I expect the supervisor at least

to be hired by one of the coal mines at the soonest possible opportunity.