WELD COUNTY, Colo. — Over three years, two environmental consultants hired by oil and gas operators submitted falsified laboratory data reports to the Colorado agency in charge of regulating that industry.
The Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) announced the data integrity issue at a public hearing Tuesday, where the commission shared that the data manipulation affected soil, groundwater, and inorganic and organic contaminant data for about 350 oil and gas locations in Weld County.
Weld County is responsible for 82% of the state’s oil production and 56% of its gas production, according to the county's Oil and Gas Energy Department.
The ECMC said the data falsification occurred between 2021 and summer 2024, but it first became aware of the issue on a smaller scale in July. The commission began investigating in August and determined the larger scope of the issue in October. The investigation is ongoing.
Now, the commission is trying to determine the potential impact of these reports on the environment, specifically to soil and shallow groundwater.
The affected reports were submitted as part of site investigation and remediation "workplans," which cover closures of oil and gas facilities and the cleanup or remediation of spills.
The closure phase of an oil and gas operation happens after production ends, ECMC said, and it's not complete until the commission receives documentation from the operator that the site meets the state's cleanup standards.
During closures, ECMC said it requires a thorough investigation of the entire operator facility and its infrastructure to determine if a spill had ever occurred while the site was operational. ECMC defines a spill as "an unintended release of exploration and production waste (E&P Waste) occurs and requires remediation," with remediation meaning removing pollutants from the site.
In total, ECMC said operators are conducting investigations or cleaning up spills at approximately 4,700 sites in Weld County.
Based on its preliminary investigation, the ECMC said it's confident the falsified data didn't create any new public health risks. The commission is still working to make sure all sites affected by the falsified data are properly sampled, investigated and remediated. It has said it has also added more safeguards to prevent false reports from being submitted in the future, which includes requirements for additional documentation and examining metadata.
It's normal for oil and gas operators to hire third-party environmental consulting firms to do things like collect samples, excavate, and develop workplans on the oil and gas company's behalf for ECMC approval. Those companies are always responsible for ensuring the integrity of their operations, ECMC said, including outside consultants.
In this case, voluntary disclosures from operators made ECMC aware of individuals at two environmental consulting firms, Eagle Environmental Consulting, Inc. and Tasman Geosciences, who allegedly altered laboratory data that they submitted to ECMC on behalf of their clients.
Eagle Environmental Consulting, Inc. submitted falsified reports on behalf of Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Civitas Resources Inc., and Tasman Geosciences did so on behalf of Occidental Petroleum Corp., the ECMC said.
“This is an aberrant and disappointing situation," ECMC Director Julie Murphy said in a statement. "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."
According to the commission, its investigation could result in enforcement action and fines from ECMC, and possible criminal and civil penalties.
