Lab owner wants charges of falsifying records tossed

WATER VALLEY — A defense lawyer is asking a federal judge to dismiss charges against the owner of environmental laboratory accused of falsifying records on industrial wastewater samples.

Tennie White, owner of Mississippi Environmental Analytical Laboratories Inc., was indicted Nov. 7 in U.S. District Court in Jackson. She’s charged with making false statements and obstruction.

The indictment says Borg Warner Emissions Systems Inc. hired White to test wastewater discharge at its car parts plant in Water Valley.

The indictment alleges that White created three reports in 2009 that indicated testing had been done, when it had not.

White’s lawyer filed a motion to dismiss last week. The motion says the documents referred to in the indictment are not criminal because they were not signed and not submitted to a government agency.