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9/2/2026
WT Staff
 Knowledge of an environmental crime? Give us a call at 877-52-WATER (877-529-2837), or email info@wtla.us
Sep 2 2026 1112 am CDT
CrimeBox
Historic Conviction Fiscal Year 2014; Case ID# CR_2590 (Louisiana)
Lab owner and employee convicted of Clean Water Act violations for knowingly issuing false water toxicity reports
The Defendants in this case are a co-owner/office manager and employee of a water testing lab in Kenner, Louisiana. The Defendants were each investigated, charged and convicted on a single count felony violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for making false statements.
The Kenner lab performed water toxicity testing on behalf of oil and gas industry clients producing a toxic, contaminated wastewater stream requiring treatment prior to discharge. Each client with a discharge permit is required to sample, perform testing and report accurate characteristics demonstrating compliance with the contaminant levels allowed in the permit. The Defendants' clients relied on the integrity of the lab for reporting the water toxicity analysis results in their mandatory Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs).
The EPA stipulates a standard protocol for water toxicity testing, the details of which are the business of each laboratory to follow. Where even one element of the standard protocol has been missed, the results of the analysis are not valid for clients to use in the DMRs. In this case, oil and gas production companies operating in the Gulf received invalid water toxicity analysis from the Defendants.
The co-owner-office manager Defendant plead guilty to the CWA charge, admitting awareness the lab supervisor had been skipping steps in the standard testing protocol, and had ordered technicians to enter false sample weights in the reports. The co-owner admitted that the authorities were not informed of the non-compliance.
For a period of four years from July 2008 through mid-June 2012, the lab supervisor Defendant signed off on clients' water toxicity results, declaring accuracy while knowing the results were invalid for inclusion on the clients' DMRs. For four years, these clients could not prove their effluent discharges were compliant, within permit limits for dangerous contaminants.
Sentencing involved federal fines for the co-owner, $10,000 and $250 for the employee. The co-owner was ordered to cease water toxicity testing for a period of five years. Accordingly, the business was closed. The lab supervisor was sentenced to three years supervision by an officer of the court.
Federal Fines: $10,250; Probation: 36 months
See last week's CrimeBox here, "Environmental services company deliberately dumped 1.2 million gallons of oily wastewater into Harvey Canal"
CrimeBox briefs are compiled from EPA Criminal Enforcement records.
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