The owner of a former Westford lab has been indicted for submitting falsified water testing reports to the Massachusetts DEP for several municipalities, including the Central Massachusetts communities of Ashby and Harvard.
Michael Carlson, 56, of Westford, was indicted by a Middlesex Grand Jury on 50 counts of making false reports to the DEP, two counts of larceny under $250 and two counts of larceny over $250, according to the state Attorney General’s office.
Carlson was the owner of Thorstensen Laboratory Inc. of Westford, which had done water quality tests for Harvard and Ashby as well as Chicopee and Lawrence, according to the AG.
The indictments stem from an unannounced inspection at Thorstensen Lab in December 2008. After the inspection the DEP revoked the lab’s certification, and Carlson claimed he would sub-contract any water quality tests out to certified labs. However, according to the indictment, Carlson did not subcontract the work, but instead manipulated the lab results “to make them appear as if they had been conducted by certified laboratories.”
Carlson is expected to be arraigned in Superior Court.
