The Department of Environmental Protection Thursday announced it has revoked accreditation in-full for Cedar Grove Environmental Inc., an environmental laboratory in Chester County, PA.

DEP’s Laboratory Accreditation Program conducted a regularly scheduled assessment of the facility in July 2015, and found repeat violations from 2012, 2009, and 2007 on-site assessments.

These violations were in spite of claims from Cedar Grove that corrective measures had been taken and despite previous suspensions.

“Revoking the accreditation of a facility like Cedar Grove is not an action taken lightly,” said Dr. Martina McGarvey, director of the Bureau of Labs for DEP. “However, given the pattern of violation, and apparent lack of ability or intent to rectify the violations, DEP was left with little alternative.”

Cedar Grove has had various specific accreditations revoked and in some cases reinstated since 2003.

Among the repeated violations were, but are not limited to: Failure to mark improperly preserved samples; Use of expired testing materials; Failure to maintain adequate records; Use of inappropriate sample sizes; Failure to properly train analysts and ensure appropriate testing procedures; and Reporting SDWA sample results that are analyzed outside of the required holding time.

At a minimum, the laboratory will be required to satisfactorily demonstrate correction of all violations, submit to a follow-up on-site assessment to confirm corrective action, pay a civil penalty as restitution for the violations found during the Department’s July 2015 on-site assessment, and agree to stipulated penalties for failure to maintain corrective action if repeat violations are found by the Department in follow-up on-site assessments.

For more general information, visit DEP’s Laboratory Accreditation Program webpage.

9/28/2015