Two safety inspectors contracted to check for welding flaws in Con Edison’s natural gas pipelines in Westchester and New York City faked inspections in hundreds of instances over seven years — costing the utility millions of dollars in ongoing remediation, a federal indictment alleges.
Liam Treibert and Michael Vasconcellos were arrested Thursday, Aug. 28, on the indictment charging them with wire fraud.
“They lied about having performed hundreds of inspections and then covered up those lies with fraudulent paperwork,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. “Their actions put the lives of New Yorkers at risk. The safety of New Yorkers is of paramount importance to our Office.”
The arrests resulted from a joint investigation by federal agents in the Southern District of New York and the Office of the New York State Inspector General.
Vasconcellos, 44, pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Victoria Reznik in White Plains federal court and was released on $100,000 bond. A federal defender represented him but court records showed Vasconcellos has retained a lawyer, whose name was not immediately provided in the records.
Treibert, 30, of Wendell, North Carolina, was expected to appear in U.S. District Court in Raleigh but no court records were immediately available.
Each man faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Con Edison issues statement
Neither the indictment nor the U.S. Attorney’s news release identified the utility, but Con Edison issued a statement saying safety was its top priority and that the indictment would “help deter future misconduct” against the company.
“We have identified and are addressing known weld irregularities linked to third-party contractors and in the meantime have implemented enhanced monitoring to ensure the continued safe operation of our gas system,” the statement read.
The indictment details how pipelines were constructed in parts that were welded together, with all welds subjected to safety testing to ensure that no anomalies were present that could lead to leaks or explosions. Pipelines could not begin to operate until the inspections were completed and faulty welds repaired.
Treibert and Vasconcellos were radiographers
Treibert and Vasconcellos worked for a pair of tri-state inspection companies hired by Con Ed, first from 2016 until 2020 and at the second one after 2020. According to the indictment, they were radiographers tasked with x-raying each weld, studying for anomalies and filing reports confirming the safety of welds or instances when the welds had to be repaired.
In hundreds of instances, they allegedly engaged in what the industry calls “radaring”, passing off the x-ray of one weld for another without inspecting all the welds. Their companies then sent Con Ed reports on the inspections and were paid. The indictment details seven such instances in Eastchester and the Bronx between October 2020 and July 2022.
Details of how much Con Edison paid the two inspection companies was not provided. But according to the indictment, the utility has been forced to spend millions on excavating pipes that were subject to radaring so that they can be inspected for defective welds.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Inspectors charged with faking Westchester, NYC ConEd pipeline checks