Michigan – A private company trusted to report whether water was safe in mobile home communities instead submitted false test results and withheld findings that crossed legal contaminant limits, Michigan authorities said.
Residents were not harmed, according to state testing. But officials said the deception created a serious risk by hiding information regulators rely on to identify water problems before they become threats.
Douglas Environmental and its president, Brian Powell, 57, of Brighton, were sentenced earlier this week in Livingston County’s 44th Circuit Court. Judge Matthew J. McGiveny ordered Powell to serve two years of probation, while the company must pay a $50,000 fine, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced.
The sentencing followed pleas entered last month. Douglas Environmental pleaded no contest to one count of conducting a criminal enterprise and six counts of forgery. Powell pleaded guilty to three counts of forgery. Both were charged in April.
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Douglas Environmental supplied private water services to mobile home communities across Michigan. Operators of those systems must regularly test the water and submit results to the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, known as EGLE. If contamination exceeds limits established by law and administrative rules, the provider must immediately notify the agency.
Powell was solely responsible for reporting the company’s test results to EGLE, placing the accuracy of that information directly in his hands.
Authorities said Douglas Environmental, acting through Powell, falsified water test results on at least six occasions in 2023. The affected systems served Moon Lake Mobile Home Park in Shiawassee County, Thornapple Lake Estates in Barry County and Fenton Harbor Condominiums in Genesee County.
Powell also failed to report tests that exceeded maximum contaminant levels between 2020 and 2023. Those results involved Hickory Hills Mobile Homes in Calhoun County, Green Brook Estates in Livingston County, North Bay Mobile Home Park in Genesee County, Fenton Harbor, Vicinia Gardens and Western Pines of Genesee County.
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The investigation began after an EGLE administrative review found discrepancies between data reported by Douglas Environmental and information the agency had received. The Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division’s Environmental Investigations Section then handled the criminal investigation.
Follow up testing by EGLE determined that the public was not harmed. State officials stressed, however, that inaccurate reporting could prevent regulators from responding quickly when water quality problems emerge.
“Falsifying water safety and discharge tests can jeopardize public health,” Nessel said when the defendants entered their pleas. “
While thankfully residents were not harmed in this particular instance, EGLE relies on accurate data to identify problems before they become threats to communities. My office will continue working with them to protect Michiganders and hold accountable those whose actions could compromise our water.”
EGLE Director Phil Roos said safe drinking water depends on truthful reporting.
“Ensuring the safety of Michigan’s drinking water depends on accurate reporting, and when that trust is broken, it puts public health at-risk,” Roos said at the time of the pleas.
“This resolution underscores that falsifying water-quality data carries real consequences. Michiganders deserve complete confidence in the safety of their drinking water.”
For people living in communities served by private systems, much of the testing process happens out of sight. Residents depend on providers to collect samples honestly, report problems promptly and give regulators accurate information.
In this case, discrepancies in the records eventually exposed the false submissions. The sentence places Powell under court supervision and imposes a significant penalty on Douglas Environmental. It also reinforces the state’s warning that water quality reports are more than routine paperwork. They are an early warning system, and falsifying them can place entire communities at risk.