Colorado oil and gas regulators will conduct a site-by-site review of 344 oil and gas locations where they say environmental consultants submitted false data on cleanup and restoration work.
Julie Murphy, director of the Energy and Carbon Management Commission, said the agency is also more broadly evaluating the integrity of the data it receives. She said the ECMC has changed how information must be submitted to allow the staff to better determine if the data has been manipulated.
The ECMC, which regulates oil and gas operations, launched its investigation after reports that two environmental consulting firms hired by companies falsified results of tests on soil, groundwater and contamination at 344 oil and gas sites between 2021 and this summer. Almost all the areas are in Weld County, which has nearly 16,000 active wells.
The state agency announced the investigation Nov. 26. A Dec. 2 letter to the ECMC from Brett Cavanagh, director of the Weld County Oil and Gas Energy Department, complained about the state sitting on “a land use and environmental issue such as this for at least four months without any communication with the relevant local government.”
Cavanagh asked for more detailed information to evaluate any potential public health risks to keep “our citizens informed.”
Murphy said she spoke with Weld County officials last week and had “really productive conversations” with Cavanagh.
The information under investigation was submitted on behalf of some of Colorado’s largest oil and gas producers to assess whether the work to clean up spills or close oil and gas sites met the state’s cleanup standards. The ECMC started investigating when the companies notified the state during the summer that information might have been falsified.
“Our top priority is to determine the risk to public health,” Murphy said. “The actual environmental impact is not an emergency in our estimation.”
The agency believes there is no new risk to public health beyond the original conditions that prompted the work.
Eagle Environmental Consulting submitted data on behalf of Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Civitas Resources Inc., according to the ECMC. Tasman Geosciences submitted information on behalf of Occidental Petroleum. All three oil and gas producers have said they alerted the ECMC when they learned of potential problems and are cooperating with the state.
The ECMC said it will cooperate with the appropriate law enforcement agencies regarding potential criminal and civil penalties. Murphy told commissioners Friday the matter has been referred to prosecutors for review.
The ECMC declined to say which law enforcement agencies have been contacted or how much the agency is spending on the investigation. Spokeswoman Kristin Kemp said the oil and gas operators will be responsible for any necessary changes to the restoration work.
Murphy said oil and gas sites in towns and cities and sites that have been closed will be prioritized for inspection. Out of the 344 locations, 177 have been closed. Some of those might have to be reopened for further work.
State officials said 296 sites are in unincorporated Weld County and 48 are in 15 cities and towns: Berthoud, 1; Dacono, 2; Erie, 2; Evans, 7; Firestone, 3; Fort Lupton, 1; Frederick, 2; Greeley, 8; Johnstown, 2, which falls within Larimer County along the west border of Weld County; Kersey, 1; Milliken, 8; Northglenn, 1; Platteville, 5; Severance, 2; and Windsor, 3.
Murphy said there doesn’t seem to be a pattern to the falsification of the data. The ECMC previously said some involve data changes while others involve levels of contamination.
Jeff Robinson, chairman of the commission, asked Murphy about comments from Weld County officials who complained of not being notified earlier of the falsified information.
“I’ve asked for some grace in terms of how we communicated initially with local governments,” Murphy said. “It was very abrupt, right before the (Nov. 26) hearing. We were moving quickly to get this information to the public and that crunched our time to have some earlier conversations.”
Cavanagh said Monday that Weld County is satisfied with the information provided so far. He said the county is ready to collaborate and work with the state.
“The fact that there was self reporting from the operators speaks highly of what they are doing,” Cavanagh said. “Our main focus here is that the public is safe.”
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