Tangled Web of Laboratory Fraud in California

Identifying and Combatting Inappropriate Laboratory Practices
Oral Presentation

Prepared by J. Oaxaca
California Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, 1001 I Street, 17th Floor, Sacramento, California, 95757, United States


Contact Information: Jacob.Oaxaca@waterboards.ca.gov; 916-323-3433


ABSTRACT

This oral presentation will outline how a California environmental testing laboratory operating out of Southern California, committed fraud against the state's Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund and committed violations under California's Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Act. Listen how a web of clients such as real estate and construction services, corrosion control services, waste management services, metal plating facilities, and others utilized fraudulent laboratory data to their advantage and resulted in criminal enforcement actions to be filed with the State of California District Attorney office. Learn how California's Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program enforcement staff partnered with the California's State Water Board Office of Enforcement and the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office to identify these inappropriate laboratory practices and prove beyond a reasonable doubt laboratory fraud crimes were committed.