NO WAY!!!! Oil & Gas Companies Operating In Colorado Lied About Pollution From 100s Of Wells, Regulators Find
Oil and gas companies operating in Colorado have submitted hundreds of environmental impact reports with “falsified” laboratory data since 2021, according to state regulators. Colorado’s energy and carbon management commission (ECMC) said on 13 December that contractors for Chevron and Oxy had submitted reports with fraudulent data for at least 344 oil and gas wells across the state, painting a misleading picture of their pollution levels. Consultants for a third company, Civitas, had also filed forms with falsified information for an unspecified number of wells, regulators said.
Some of the reports, which were conducted and filed by the consulting groups Eagle Environmental Consulting and Tasman Geosciences, obscured the levels of dangerous contaminants in nearby soils, including arsenic, which is linked to heart disease and a variety of cancers, and benzene, which is linked to leukemia and other blood disorders, among other pollutants, according to the commission. “I do believe that the degree of alleged fraud warrants some criminal investigation,” said Julie Murphy, the ECMC director, in November.
Regulators first revealed in November that widespread data fabrication had occurred, noting that the companies had voluntarily disclosed the issue months earlier. Last week, as officials specified which sites were known to be affected, the New Mexico attorney general’s office said it was also gathering information about the consulting groups’ testing methods. “This highlights the whole problem of our regulatory agency relying on operator-reported data,” said Heidi Leathwood, climate policy analyst for 350 Colorado, an environmental non-profit. “The public needs to know that they are really being put at risk by these carcinogens.”
Paula Beasley, a Chevron spokesperson, wrote via email that an independent contractor – which ECMC identified as Denver-based Eagle Environmental Consulting – notified the company in July that an employee had manipulated laboratory data. “When Chevron became aware of this fraud, it immediately launched an investigation into these incidents and continues to cooperate fully and work closely with the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission,” Beasley wrote. “Chevron is shocked and appalled that any third-party contractor would intentionally falsify data and file it with state officials.”
Jennifer Price, an Oxy spokesperson, also wrote via email that a third-party environmental consultant informed the company about employee-altered lab reports and associated forms. “Upon notification, we reported the issue to Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission and are reassessing the identified sites to confirm they meet state environmental and health standards,” she added.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/20/colorado-oil-gas-false-environmental-impact-reports
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