Two environmental consulting firms—Eagle Environmental Consulting, Inc. and Tasman Geosciences—are accused of submitting falsified lab data for more than 400 oil and gas sites in Weld County, Colorado. The manipulated data affected soil, groundwater, and contamination reports, leading to improper site closures or remediation approvals. The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) has issued corrective action orders, including seven formal notices of alleged violations, and operators must respond within 28 days. Companies like Chevron, Occidental (Oxy), and Civitas have acknowledged the issues and are cooperating with the ECMC. The Commission has signaled that criminal investigations and additional enforcement measures may follow.
Read and watch the full CBS news story here.
In an official statement on the ECMC website, ECMC Director Julie Murphy stated, “I’ve said it before and I will reiterate now: this is an aberrant and disappointing situation. Maintaining the integrity of the data upon which ECMC — or any regulatory body — bases decisions is essential. Our permitting, compliance, and enforcement procedures — including the submission of reports, data, and samples by operators — are grounded in an expectation that all parties abide by the law and follow a basic professional, ethical code of conduct. At this point we believe that the issue is isolated to individual actors who have betrayed our trust and their profession.”
However, we’re left with more questions than answers:
1) Why does the ECMC Director believe the issue is isolated to “individual actors”?
2) What incentive would these actors have to falsify data that would only stand to benefit their clients (i.e., Civitas, Chevron or Occidental)?
3) What will the punishment be and when will it be announced?
4) Is the ECMC overly reliant on self-reporting issues like spills, chemical disclosures and inaccurate or fraudulent data?
5) How many violations will the ECMC tolerate before taking substantial action, such as placing operators on probation or pausing new applications?
For the communities with oil and gas operations nearby, as well as communities with operators like Civitas “knocking on the door”, it’s difficult to know what to believe and who to trust.
STAR will be closely tracking the next phases of this investigation.
