Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Air pollution along the Front Range seen from a downtown Denver office tower on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021.
Attorney General Phil Weiser will hire an independent investigator to probe whether employees at the state Department of Public Health and the Environment falsified data and illegally issued air quality permits.
Weiser is seeking an independent investigator to look into whether whistleblower allegations made to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general accusing state officials of ignoring pollution violations last month are true, according to a request for information posted on the attorney general’s website Monday evening.
Colorado investigating air-pollution control complaints
April 27, 2021
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DENVER (AP) The Colorado attorney general s office will hire an independent investigator to look into whistleblower allegations that the state health department failed to properly enforce federal air quality standards.
The Colorado Department of Law, which is led by Attorney General Phil Weiser, on Monday requested proposals for the investigation of the complaint filed with the Environmental Protection Agency s office of inspector general on March 30, The Colorado Sun reported Monday. The proposals from independent investigators are due May 10.
The whistleblowers in the complaint alleged that dozens of air pollution permits were issued unlawfully by the health department s Air Pollution Control Division to companies and that at least one whistleblower was asked to falsify data to get pollution estimates under permitted limits.
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Colorado air regulators have decided to limit a regulatory initiative to reduce employee traffic to the Front Range after hearing concerns about the idea of applying it statewide.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environmentâs Air Pollution Control Division is moving toward drafting a proposed Employee Traffic Reduction Program rule, which is intended to help cut greenhouse gas emissions in the state.
The goal is to require larger companies to develop plans to cut driving by commuters via means such as telecommuting, public transit, ride-sharing and bicycling.
Last month, regulatory staff said they were exploring a statewide requirement that potentially would apply wherever at least 100 people work at a single location.
Colorado Sun
A Colorado environmental coalition Thursday demanded that Gov. Jared Polis remove the director of the state Air Pollution Control Division, who is called out in a whistleblower complaint alleging the state endangers public health by unlawfully approving permits to pollute the air.
The coalition also asked the state attorney general’s office to launch its own investigation into allegations the state has speeded permits “at all costs” and may have falsified data in the process.
The staff whistleblowers’ detailed complaint to the Environmental Protection Agency Office of the Inspector General is just the latest evidence that the state Department of Public Health and Environment and its Air Pollution Control Division flout the law, allowing industry to ruin Colorado’s air and harm public health, the groups said.