EcoWatch: A West Virginia lab technician pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of faking water sample quality tests so that coal mining companies could be guaranteed clean reports to submit to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), reports the Charleston Gazette.
John W. Shelton worked for Appalachian Laboratories Inc. (AL), a company certified by DEP to conduct such tests as part of the Clean Water Act. The company conducts tests...