Superfund supersleuth.

• Position: US Special Assistant Arnold L. Husser

When I knock on the door, it's like the grim reaper has arrived," Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold L. Husser says. "If you're lying, cheating or swindling the EPA, eventually I'm going to find you."

The Environmental Protection Agency's point man for ferreting out environmental scofflaws gets his check from the EPA but works under the supervision of the U.S. Justice Department out of a cubby-hole in Greensboro's federal building.

A big chunk of Husser's work involves investigating laboratories that have EPA Superfund contracts to test soil and water.

Since it was established in 1980, Superfund has shelled out contracts worth more than $6 billion. Much of the bill processing is handled at the EPA's office in Research Triangle Park, which is why Husser is based in North Carolina.

In his first 18 months, Husser says, his work led to fines and restitution of more than $4 million. Falsifying test data and submitting fraudulent claims are the most common white-collar crimes, he says. An example is the case involving Louisiana-based Environmental Industrial Research...