Falsification taints environmental consultant’s data | Business

The Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission reported Tuesday that two environmental consulting companies submitted falsified laboratory data reports for three oil companies’ oil well remediation projects.

ECMC officials said that soil, groundwater, inorganic and organic contaminant data for about 350 oil and gas locations in Weld County was manipulated between 2021 and the summer of 2024.

“Site Investigation and Remediation Workplans cover both the closure of oil and gas facilities and the clean up or remediation of spills,” according to the ECMC release. “The closure phase of an oil and gas operation begins after production ends and is not considered complete until ECMC has received documentation from the operator that the site meets the state’s cleanup standards.”

ECMC said that it is confident that the falsified data poses no new risks to public health and has added protections to intercept falsified data in the future.

“ECMC is aware that individuals at two environmental consulting firms — Eagle Environmental Consulting, Inc. and Tasman Geosciences — allegedly altered laboratory data that they submitted to ECMC on behalf of their clients to varying degrees: Eagle Environmental Consulting, Inc. on behalf of Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Civitas Resources Inc. and Tasman Geosciences on behalf of Occidental Petroleum Corp,” said an ECMC release.

One affected company, Oxy (Occidental Petroleum), said in a statement to The Denver Gazette that Tasman Geosciences of Broomfield notified Oxy of the issue.

“A third-party environmental consultant informed us that one of their employees, without our knowledge, altered lab reports and associated forms related to some of our DJ Basin remediation projects,” said Jennifer Brice, spokesperson for Oxy. “Upon notification, we reported the issue to Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission and are reassessing the identified sites to ensure they meet ECMC remediation standards.”

Andy Boian, spokesperson for Tasman Geosciences responded to The Denver Gazette, saying that the ECMC release was “a bit misleading” in suggesting that all 350 sites could be attributed to Tasman.

“Of those 350 sites, only 74 of those were Tasman related,” said Boian in an interview Wednesday. “And we did self-report the same day we found out that the information was being falsified.

Boian went on to say that the inconsistencies in the reports were discovered during a routine review of reports by in-house experts who found implausible data entries going back several years from a single employee who no longer works for the company.

“As soon as we figured that out, as quickly as we figure that out, we report it to the state right away, made them aware of it,” said Boian. “Also, we made the client aware of it right away. So the client has stayed in full communication with Tasman throughout the entire process, as has all of our clients, by the way.”

The company has tightened its procedures to ensure this will never happen again, Boian said, and expects to be in compliance with state regulations by the end of the year. Boian is the head of Denver PR agency Dovetail Solutions.

Denver oil and gas company Civitas was also affected by data manipulation.

“Civitas first learned of a potential issue this summer and immediately investigated to determine if our needed samples were also implicated,” said Rich Coolidge, manager of public affairs for Civitas. “When we confirmed that this lab worker failed on samples that we submitted along with other operators, we notified state regulators.”

“Civitas works closely with reputable third-party vendors who provide needed services, as in this instance with a soil testing laboratory. The alleged manipulation of these needed soil testing results by this individual threatens not just our state regulatory compliance but the high bar we aim to achieve in our operations,” 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.”

The data manipulation likewise surprised Chevron Colorado, officials said.

“Chevron is shocked and appalled that any third-party contractor would intentionally falsify data and file it with state officials to assess environmental corrective actions taken by Chevron,” said Patty Errico, senior communications advisor for Chevron Rockies Business Unit, Corporate Affairs. “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 to understand and address any instances of fraudulent alteration of information by the contractor.”

“Chevron remains committed to conducting business in full compliance with the laws and regulations in Colorado, as well as in all other jurisdictions in which we do business. Operating responsibly and ethically is a core value at Chevron and we expect the same from our contractors,” Errico added.

ECMC’s investigation is ongoing, and the outcome could include enforcement action and fines. ECMC is cooperating with law enforcement regarding criminal and civil penalties, according to the release.

“We hold operators responsible for their contractors’ work, and I appreciate their self-reporting and cooperation to date,” Director Julie Murphy said. “This is an aberrant and disappointing situation. Maintaining the integrity of the data upon which ECMC — or any regulatory body — bases decisions is essential.”

It is unclear whether the revelation means the state will need to audit its own records. The ECMC did not respond to that question before press time.

The State of Colorado has contracted with Eagle Environmental Consulting and Tasman Geosciences since 2014 and 2017, respectively.

According to government documents received by The Denver Gazette, the state of Colorado paid Eagle $557,851.06 between 2014 and 2024 and paid Tasman $1,331,879.53 between 2017 and 2021 for professional environmental services, mostly through the Division of Oil and Public Safety, for a total of $1,889,730.59 for more than 450 transactions.

The Denver Gazette reached out to Eagle Environmental Consulting, Inc. but has not heard back.