Colorado officials say contractors falsified data at over 400 oil and gas sites

CBS News

27-07-2025

Several oil and gas companies operating in Colorado have been ordered to take corrective actions after third-party contractors reportedly falsified data on over 400 sites in Weld County.
The Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) announced that two environmental consultants hired by oil and gas operators, Eagle Environmental Consulting, INC. and Tasman Geosciences, submitted falsified laboratory data reports. They say the data manipulation affected soil, groundwater, and inorganic and organic contaminant data for 404 oil and gas locations in Weld County.
Civitas hired one of the environmental consultants in question.
A neighborhood environmental group in Colorado, Save the Aurora Reservoir (S.T.A.R.), has been trying to stop the construction of a Civitas oil and gas project near the Aurora Reservoir for five years. Now, thanks to a State of Colorado investigation, they think they may have the evidence they need to do it.
"It is frustrating. It's interesting, that's part of why we're here is to raise awareness," said Randy Willard, a Community Director with S.T.A.R., who spent part of his Saturday morning setting up their booth at the Arapahoe County Fair. They are trying to raise awareness about the upcoming approval hearing for the Sunlight-Long well, which will be the drilling site closest to the Aurora Reservoir.
"It actually will sit up on the hills, will be nicely visible when you're at the beach," said Willard.
Civitas has said repeatedly that it will protect the environment, having previously stated that they have worked hard to protect the environment and minimize impacts to communities. In a past statement, they told CBS Colorado:
"We're especially proud of our design and utilization of the latest technologies to achieve and even exceed the state's and Arapahoe County's regulations, which remain among the strictest in the country."
But Willard and S.T.A.R. disagree.
"There's just a lot of things that are indicating to us that this industry is not operating as above board," said Willard.
Now, with the ECMC issuing a Notice of Alleged Violation to seven operators, including Civitas, Willard says he will push harder to keep their project out of his neighborhood. Especially at the upcoming ECMC meeting that will discuss approval of the Sunlight-Long well.
"We're very concerned about that, and we're bringing it up to all the authorities that we can," said Willard.
CBS Colorado reached out to Eagle Environmental Consulting, INC. and Tasman Geosciences, but have not received a response as of the publishing of this article.
We also reached out to all three operators who hired those contractors about the notice of alleged violations. Although CBS Colorado has not received a response from Civitas, two other operators sent statements to CBS Colorado. A Spokesperson for Oxy said:
"We've received the notice, are currently reviewing the details, and will be responding directly to the ECMC.
In late 2024, we were informed by a third-party environmental consultant that one of its employees, without our knowledge, had altered data related to some of our DJ Basin sites. We promptly reported the issue to the ECMC and immediately began working with regulators to remedy the issue. We were extremely disappointed to learn that an Oxy contractor submitted regulatory filings on Oxy's behalf that contained inaccurate, falsified data. We are committed to ensuring that everything submitted on behalf of Oxy is accurate."
A spokesperson for Chevron said:
"We received the Notice of Alleged Violation and we are currently reviewing.
When Chevron became aware of this fraud, it promptly launched an investigation into these incidents and disclosed a list of the potentially impacted sites to the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC). We continue to cooperate fully and work closely with ECMC.
Since learning of this falsified data, Chevron hired additional personnel to help review and assess all remediation contractor reports and increased its audits of laboratory reports and third-party consultants.
Chevron is shocked that any third-party contractor would intentionally falsify data and file it with state officials to assess environmental corrective actions taken by Chevron.
We remain 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."