PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The director of a private water testing laboratory in Lee has been indicted in connection with backdating drinking water sample analyses to cover-up misconduct and feign compliance with environmental laws, Attorney General Martha Coakley's Office announced today.

William Enser, Jr., 63, of Lee, was indicted by a Berkshire County Grand Jury on 15 counts of Knowingly Falsifying Reports Submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection and 15 counts of Willfully Making False Reports to the Department of Environmental Protection.

"This defendant allegedly backdated reports sent to officials to make it appear that water samples were tested within the required timeframe when in fact, they were not," Attorney General Martha Coakley said. "As the director of the lab, he was entrusted with ensuring the integrity of the testing and the safety of the water supply. We allege that he neglected those responsibilities by cutting corners and then attempting to cover it up."

In September 2012, the AG's Office began an investigation after the matter was initially investigated and referred by the state Department of Environmental Protection. Enser was the director of Berkshire Enviro-Labs, Inc. in Lee that had previously acted as a certified drinking water lab to provide drinking water testing for private and public water suppliers in western Massachusetts.

"Labs that test drinking water samples must be held to very strict standards to ensure that the health and safety of the public is never compromised," said MassDEP Commissioner Kenneth Kimmell. "This indictment suggests that the lab director purposely skewed the data and undermined the system. MassDEP staff conducting audit, inspection and investigative functions uncovered this fraud and helped to bring this operator to justice."

Authorities allege that at times between 2008 and 2012, Enser falsified the dates of drinking water sample analyses on reports submitted to the MassDEP in an attempt to make it appear that the analyses had been completed within the required holding time for those substances, when in fact, they had not. The analyses were being run for the presence of nitrates and nitrites, substances that can contaminate drinking water. The maximum sample holding time, or the time from sample collection to sample analysis, for these kinds of samples is 48 hours. After 48 hours, the lab analysis is not considered reliable.

Investigation revealed that the dates submitted to the MassDEP differed from those found on the chromatogram, a chart printed from the instrument used to analyze the samples, in an alleged attempt to feign compliance with state environmental laws.

MassDEP conducted additional analysis to determine if the falsification of the data put the public at risk. Based on the prompt closing of the lab, MassDEP’s own additional sampling and close review of the data concerning nitrates and nitrites, the agency does not believe that the water that was the subject of the back-dated samples put the public at risk.

The charges stem from an investigation by the Massachusetts Environmental Strike Force, an interagency unit which is overseen by Coakley, Kimmell and Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Richard K. Sullivan, Jr. The Strike Force comprises prosecutors from the Attorney General's Office, Environmental Police Officers assigned to the Attorney General's Office, and investigators and engineers from the MassDEP who investigate and prosecute crimes that harm or threaten the state's water, air, or land and that pose a significant threat to human health.

A Berkshire County Grand Jury returned indictments against Enser on Wednesday. He will be arraigned in Berkshire Superior Court on Jan. 23. In September 2012, MassDEP's Wall Experiment Station Lab Certification Office, which certifies and audits these kinds of labs, revoked the certification of Enviro-Labs that allowed them to analyze water samples as a result of falsification of data and engaging in deceptive practices. The laboratory has not been conducting analysis on water samples since that time.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Andrew Rainer, Chief of the Environmental Crimes Strike Force, and Assistant Attorney General Sara Farnum, of AG Coakley's Environmental Crimes Division, with assistance from the Massachusetts Environmental Police, and the MassDEP Strike Force Director Pamela Talbot and investigators Tim Dame and Joel Rees. MassDEP staff also worked to corroborate the technical findings and to ensure the continued delivery of certified lab services to affected water suppliers. That staff is Marielle Stone, Western Regional Office Director Michael Gorski and Brian Harrington, Jim Gibbs, Deirdre Cabral and Doug Paine. MassDEP lab staff, Anne Marie Allen, John Bardzik and Lisa Touet provided valuable assistance with the lab audit and inspections.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — One firefighter was taken to the hospital during a blaze at the city's highway department building Monday morning.

According to Deputy Chief Bruce Kilmer, the fire began on the upper floors around 9 a.m.

While attempting to knock down the flames, one firefighter sustained a burn on his neck. He was transported to Berkshire Medical Center for Treatment. No other injuries were reported.

As of 11 a.m., the fire was still burning but was mostly contained.

"The major body of the fire is down. We're just working hard to get in there at this time," Kilmer said of the fire that was smoldering in the attic.

"It's just a hard fire to get at," he said.

Cases heard before Judge Daniel Ford on Monday, January 7.

Sarah Gordon, 30, of Dalton pleaded guilty to two counts of breaking and entering in the daytime, two counts of larceny over $250, two counts of larceny in a building and a single count of larceny of a controlled substance.

She was placed on two years probation. The charges stem from house breaks in Dalton and Lee on May 29, 2011 and June 3, 2011.

Cases heard before Judge Daniel Ford on Wednesday, January 9.

Brian Podavani, 42, was found guilty by a jury of intimidation of a witness or other person.

He was ordered to be held without bail at the Berkshire County House of Correction pending sentencing on Friday, January 11.

The incident occurred in Pittsfield on September 25, 2011 and involved a 25-year-old man.

Podavini was found not guilty on two counts of assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and a single count of kidnapping.

Cases heard before Judge Daniel Ford on Thursday, January 10.

Christopher Peterson, 41, of Pittsfield had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf on single counts of aggravated rape and breaking and entering in the nighttime.

He was ordered to be held at the Berkshire County House of Correction on $100,000 bail.

Peterson allegedly sexually assaulted a 26-year-old woman in Pittsfield after breaking into her home on November 14, 2012.

Cases heard before Judge Daniel Ford on Friday, January 11.

Brian Podavini was sentenced to two to three years at the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Cedar Junction on a single count of intimidation of a witness.

Podavini was found guilty by a jury on Jan. 9. The incident occurred in Pittsfield on September 25, 2011 and involved a 25-year-old man.

WOODFORD, Vt. — A Pittsfield, Mass., woman was taken to Southern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington after her snowmobile struck a tree on Thursday evening, Jan. 3.

According to state police, Chelsea Hawksley, 27, was traveling west on a Vermont Association Of Snow Travelers (VAST) trail in Woodford when she lost control of her 2012 Ski-doo 600, left the trail and struck a tree.

The crash was reported at about 7 p.m. Hawksley, who had been wearing a helmet, was transported to the hospital by Bennington Rescue with unknown injuries. She was reportedly still at SVMC on Monday. The snowmobile was totaled.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A man who had set eight buildings and three motor vehicles in downtown Great Barrington was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

David Pixley Sr., 63, of Great Barrington was found not guilty by reason of criminal responsibility in Franklin Superior Court Friday on eight counts of attempting to burn a building, motor vehicle, structure or personal property and single counts of burning a dwelling house and burning a building.

Judge John Agostini allowed the state a motion to commit Pixley to a mental health facility.

Pixley was charged in connection of a June, 2011 arson spree when he allegedly set fire to Barrington Outfitters on Main Street and Lee Bank. He allegedly targeted the Shopper's Guide, Foster's Hardware, Toole Insurance Agency, Berkshire Block, Gypsy Joynt and the Tune Street building on Railroad Street with combustibles and flammable liquids but those were not lit on fire. Three vehicles in the Foster's parking lot had flammable liquid applied to them but were not burned.

The spree led police in search of a man wearing a dark-colored poncho and black North Face winter gloves. The next morning, Pixley was arrested after finding him in the T.D. Bank parking lot, allegedly trying to set yet another fire. He then fled the scene and was arrested at his home.

The investigation was conducted by members of the Great Barrington Police Department, the Office of the state Fire Marshal, Station Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.