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PA FALSIFICATION OF TEST DATA LEADS TO THREE YEARS PROBATION

Release Date: 10/15/96
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PA FALSIFICATION OF TEST DATA LEADS TO THREE YEARS PROBATION

FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1996

FALSIFICATION OF TEST DATA LEADS TO THREE YEARS PROBATION FOR OWNER OF WASHINGTON WOOD STOVE CERTIFICATION LABORATORY

On Sept. 27, William Nowak former owner and manager of a wood-burning stove certification laboratory in Kent, Wash., was sentenced to three years probation and 240 hours of community service as a result of being convicted on one felony count of submitting fraudulent data to EPA. From December 1992 through December 1994, Nowak's laboratory, Energy and Environmental Systems Performance Corp., performed certification tests on at least 21 models of wood-burning stoves. Of the 21, Nowak admitted to having falsified the laboratory test data on 10 models manufactured by seven different companies. As of Sept. 27, approximately 53,000 invalidly certified stoves were in the marketplace. All of the wood stove model lines falsely certified by Nowak have either been retested and meet the federal standard, withdrawn from the marketplace or have been out of production and will not be required to be retested. Only two models, the Quadra Fire 4300 and the Lopi Freedom, meet Washington State standards, which are more stringent than the federal standards. This case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division.

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