The Department of Environmental Protection Wednesday announced it has signed a consent order and agreement with Microbac Laboratories of Pittsburgh, which requires the lab to pay a civil penalty of $60,000 and to conduct an independent review of its laboratory in Baltimore, Maryland.

Microbac provides testing and analytical support for a variety of clients who seek DEP permits and authorizations. DEP uses such reports from independent laboratories to make regulatory decisions.

“Accredited, independent laboratories are the centerpiece upon which all environmental protection programs depend,” DEP Bureau of Laboratories Director Martina McGarvey said. “Ensuring that labs are of the highest quality is important to the decisions we make.”

Microbac Baltimore was accredited under DEP’s National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program to test and analyze drinking water, non-potable water, and a variety of soils, chemicals and liquids.

During a DEP inspection in April 2013, DEP found a number of violations, such as failure to properly calculate holding times for samples; overall failure of management to provide proper quality control oversight; and not having sufficient corrective action protocols in place to address the violations.

As a result of DEP’s determination that these and other violations had not been addressed, Microbac agreed to voluntarily relinquish its accreditations and thus immediately ceased analyzing samples for environmental compliance purposes.

Microbac has agreed to replace its laboratory supervisor for its organics section and has already begun an independent third-party audit of the lab’s abilities to meet the conditions of its accreditation. Any issues the independent auditor’s report uncovers must be corrected.

“DEP’s intent in this enforcement action is to have Microbac correct its violations, ensure no future violations occur, and through the audit, become a much better environmental laboratory,” McGarvey said.

NewsClip: Water Testing Lab Loses Accreditation Over Missteps

9/30/2013