Indiana microbiologist sentenced for faking results

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February 1, 2007

By Alan J. Keays Herald Staff

An Indiana microbiologist has been sentenced in federal

court in Vermont to one year of probation for producing

false scientific data to the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency.

" What I really did was to push aside the scientific

principles I've been trained to uphold, " A.

Battigelli said Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Rutland

before Judge J. Garvan Murtha handed down the sentence. " I

have no one to blame but myself. "

In addition to the probation, Battigelli, 42, of Granger,

Ind., was fined $500. Also, Battigelli reached a " voluntary

exclusion agreement " with the EPA that bars him from taking

part in any project funded or contracted by the federal

government for 30 months, or until around July 2009.

Murtha said the actions by Battigelli could have led to

dangerous results and could undermine the public's

confidence in the work of credible scientists.

....

Battigelli pleaded guilty last fall to two misdemeanor

counts of knowingly causing false testing data to be

submitted to the EPA in support of a pesticide application.

Since that time, Battigelli has been terminated from his

most recent job in Indiana, " harshly condemned " by his

professional peers, and struggling financially to support

his family, according to court records.

Battigelli, a specialist in the treatment of drinking

water, fabricated test results for a water purifier by the

XINIX Group, which had been seeking EPA approval to sell

the product in the United States.

The federal agency required favorable test results on

whether the purifier reduced common bacteria and viruses in

contaminated groundwater required by the federal

Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.

....

" It follows that, if Battigelli's efforts to obtain EPA

registration had been successful, the product would likely

have resulted in persons consuming water contaminated by

viruses and bacteria, in reliance upon the testing and

registration regimen that he corrupted, " the prosecutor

wrote.

Fortunately, Darrow added, the fraud was discovered almost

at the same time by the EPA and the laboratory that

employed Battigelli, and as a result the product was not

registered.

....

Contact Alan J. Keays at alan.keays@....

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