Environmental Fraud: False Monitoring, Reporting and Cleanup Claims
Environmental fraud becomes a False Claims Act matter when a company bills the federal government for remediation not performed, falsifies monitoring or testing data required by a federally funded contract, or certifies environmental compliance as a condition of federal payment.
Two different exposures
Environmental statutes carry their own penalties and their own whistleblower provisions, most administered by OSHA with short deadlines. Those address the pollution.
The False Claims Act addresses the money. Where a company took federal funds for cleanup it did not perform, or certified compliance as a condition of a federal contract or grant, the claims for payment are the actionable conduct.
What supports a False Claims Act theory
The link to federal payment is the requirement.
- Billing Superfund or other remediation contracts for work not performed
- Falsifying sampling, monitoring, or laboratory results required under a federal contract
- Certifying Clean Air Act or Clean Water Act compliance as a condition of federal funding
- Misrepresenting emissions control device performance on federally regulated equipment
- Improper disposal while certifying compliant handling under a federal contract
- Renewable fuel and energy credit fraud
Laboratory data fraud
Environmental testing laboratories operate under quality assurance protocols. Manipulating results, reusing data across samples, or reporting analyses never run is a recurring pattern, and lab technicians are typically the ones who see it.
Where the laboratory results support billing on a federally funded remediation project, the falsified data supports a False Claims Act claim as well as environmental enforcement.
Frequently asked questions
Which statute should I use?
It depends on whether federal money was paid on the strength of a false statement. If so, the False Claims Act pays a share of the recovery. If the issue is pollution without a federal payment link, environmental whistleblower provisions apply but generally pay no award.
The deadlines seem very short.
OSHA-administered environmental whistleblower provisions have deadlines as short as 30 days. The False Claims Act allows six years. Do not assume the longer period covers your situation.
I work at a testing laboratory. Am I covered?
Yes. Laboratory staff who see data manipulation on federally funded work are well positioned, because the underlying records show what was actually run.
The attorneys who handle these cases
Related reading
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