Colorado regulators have accused two environmental consulting companies of falsifying soil and water sampling data collected at hundreds of oil and gas sites in Weld County.
In a press statement released Tuesday, the Energy and Carbon Management Commission claimed the firms filed falsified data for 350 oil-field operations between 2021 and summer 2024. The consulting companies — Eagle Environmental Consulting and Tasman Geosciences — submitted the altered tests from spill sites and closed drilling locations on behalf of three oil and gas companies: Chevron, Civitas and Occidental Petroleum.
The agency said there does not appear to be an immediate threat to public health and regulators are working to determine which sites require further cleanup and remediation. Representatives for the consulting companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CPR News.
On Tuesday, Julie Murphy, the agency’s director, held a public meeting with the commissioners about the issue. She said an initial investigation found the companies submitted forms with false dates and manipulated test results for contaminants such as barium, sodium, arsenic and benzene, a dangerous pollutant known to increase the risk of certain cancers.
Murphy said an oil company alerted regulators to the possible falsified data in July. In August, a second oil and gas operator alerted regulators, who then opened an investigation that found hundreds of other suspicious reports.
“This is a very serious matter,” Murphy told commissioners. “We determined that urgent notifications was not warranted because there was no new or increased risk based on the falsified data. So from our timeline, our awareness of the scale of this issue has grown over time.”
A spokesperson for the regulatory agency said the falsified data appears in forms detailing plans to clean up spill sites and remediate closed oil and gas operations. Through a preliminary investigation, regulators interviewed operators, reviewed maps, and conducted initial tests to confirm the data falsification issue presented no immediate risk to the public.
Regulators are considering fining the companies. Murphy said she believes the alleged fraud warrants a criminal investigation, which could be taken up by the Attorney General’s office.
Rich Coolidge, a spokesperson for Civitas, said the company often contracts third-party companies to conduct soil testing. Last summer, it learned an individual working for Eagle Environmental Consultants had manipulated results, including information Civitas and other oil and gas operators had already submitted to regulators. The company then notified the state about the problem, Coolidge said.
“We’re working with these testing labs to ensure there is a robust audit procedure to catch bad actors and prevent this from occurring in the future,” Coolidge told CPR News.
A spokesperson for Occidental Petroleum said Tasman Geosciences let it know one of its employees had altered lab reports and forms related to the company’s clean-up projects in Colorado. The company notified regulators and is now working to ensure the sites meet state environmental and health standards, he said. A representative for Chevron said the company launched an internal investigation into the data falsification and will fully cooperate with state authorities.
Kait Schwartz, director of the American Petroleum Institute’s Colorado Chapter, said oil companies are cooperating with investigators and are working with state regulators to ensure the industry follows proper environmental reporting procedures.
