GSA Engineering Settles Fraud Suit for $90,000
Washoe Fuel Fined for Closed Bulk Tank Leak

GSA ENGINEERING SETTLES FRAUD SUIT FOR $90,000

SACRAMENTO, CA. — GSA Engineering Inc., based in Pacific Palisades, CA., has settled a lawsuit with the California State Water Resources Control Board over allegations that it submitted inflated invoices to the state's Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund and made kickback payments to a laboratory that conspired to falsify reports.

The State Water Board claimed that GSA, an environmental consulting firm, made misrepresentations with its UST fund reimbursement requests. It also stated that those requests included hidden kickback payments in padded laboratory invoices to Cal Tech Environmental Laboratories of Paramount, CA.

The suit also alleged that GSA directed Cal Tech Environmental Laboratories to revise results instead of the actual results and to avoid resampling and rerunning questionable results. Cal Tech Environmental Laboratories owner Roobik Yaghoubi has already pleaded guilty to a felony false data charge in Los Angeles County in November 2017.

As part of the GSA settlement, GSA will pay a $90,000 penalty, and the company and its principal, Daniel Louks, will be disqualified from participating in any State Water Board reimbursement program, including the Cleanup Fund.

"Reimbursement of actual costs and submittal of reliable analytical data are essential to our Cleanup Fund program," said Yvonne West, director of the Office of Enforcement for the CSWRCB. "The Office of Enforcement will vigorously investigate and prosecute unscrupulous firms and individuals who falsify or otherwise compromise documents and data for financial gains."

WASHOE FUEL FINED FOR CLOSED BULK TANK LEAKS

SACRAMENTO, CA. — Washoe Fuel Inc., has been fined $660,521 by California's Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board for failing to clean up a former bulk fueling facility in Quincy, CA.

Leaks had been discovered at the Quincy bulk plant, located on Crescent Street, over a decade ago. The Water Board issued an Administrative Civil Liability Cleanup and Abatement order to parent company Allied Washoe in 2007. While Corrective Action Plans were submitted by Allied Washoe, the Water Board said the plans were "insufficient."

In January 2014, the CVRWQCB inspectors visited the closed bulk plant and reported they found free product at the site "and other items of concern." Washoe Fuel and the Water Board corresponded about how to clean up the facility via email, but the Board claims that a plan was never formally submitted.

In May 2017, an engineer from environmental consulting firm McGinley Associates, Inc., forwarded a draft of an amended CAP and requested comments prior to final submittal but, according to the Board, the amended CAP was not formally filed.

The CVRWQCB states that the leaks from the former bulk plant "are negatively impacting the nearby groundwater supply, including a well once operated by the local water district and the Quincy Community Services District's sewer system."

"The failure of Washoe Fuel to comply with the Cleanup and Abatement Order has resulted in a hardship to the town of Quincy by removing one of its supply wells from service," stated Clint Snyder, assistant executive officer for the Central Valley Water Board.

In addition to the fine, Washoe Fuel is still required to clean up the property until it is found to be in compliance by the Board.

Originally published in the August 2019 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2019 by KAL Publications Inc.