Another Coal Lab Employee Charged in Water Testing Scheme

Another employee at a Raleigh County coal industry laboratory has been charged for his part in a scheme to falsify water samples.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports 62-year-old John Brewer, a manager at Appalachian Laboratories Inc., faces seven counts in a federal grand jury indictment.

He is accused of conspiracy to violate the Clean Water Act, mail fraud and making false statements.

Former lab employee John W. Shelton is currently serving one year and nine months in federal prison for tampering with water samples. Under a plea agreement, Shelton admitted to falsifying coal company water quality reports.

Brewer previously testified to no wrongdoing before a state appeals board.

The lab’s sampling and analysis ensures that pollutant discharges from coal mines into public waterways don’t exceed permitted limits.