Can you just ignore a coelution?

[anionman]

I'd just keep covering your own tail if I were you. Don't sign stuff that is clearly wrong. Leave that to the chief.

If the NELAP auditors didn't flag your results (they're evidently incompetent or just did not happen to look in the right place), I suspect that HR won't spend a lot of time on your issues with the lab practices. Check that box, but don't expect anything.

I think a customer audit will be more likely to turn up something.

Still reading...

If nobody with experience will return HR's calls about openings in the lab, call the placement offices of colleges with ACS certified chemistry programs (Truman State in Missouri, for example). This way, you get to train them yourself - none of your ex-boss' bad habits.

Best of luck

I did that last bit of covering my tail by rereading the lab ethics SOP and following as best I could. It did mention reporting unethical behavior to HR and since I have told everyone in the lab I e-mailed HR. Then in February I got an e-mail from an HR investigator who knows nothing about chemistry. He didn't even know what a coelution was. The ethics SOP says an outside investigator will be engaged for data integrity investigations. It doesn't say the guy has to know anything about chemistry.

[DR]

I think you've done your bit here, so all that is left is to continue testing, don't sign anything you shouldn't and just keep quietly documenting what they're doing poorly or not at all. Just stick it out until either you can retire, or they fire you without adequate cause (and you can sue for wrongful termination - check with a labor lawyer on this one), or start looking.
The good news is that the labor market has changed a lot since this all started up and you should have no problem finding a less stressful position in a lab with competent management and better pay, should you decide to start looking.