Email with disparaging company names accidentally released
Just as the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission prepares to vote on several new rules, including much larger buffers from wells, a test email by the staff that used disparaging fake company names was mistakenly released to people in the industry.
As first reported by CBS4 on Wednesday, companies received test emails early Sunday with a list of hearings before the COGCC for companies that included the names “Snake Oil Inc.” and its law firm, “Blah, Blah, Blah.”
An email obtained by The Denver Post showed other names were “Bad Oil and Gas,” “Acme Company II,” “Here We Go Again” and “The Lorax.”
The Acme Corporation was a company in the Road Runner-Wile E. Coyote cartoons that sold products that would backfire on the coyote. And “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss is a cautionary tale about the environment.
Megan Castle, COGCC spokeswoman, said in an email that to ensure that a new online filing system worked, the staff was practicing on an internal site, “which was accidentally shared with our stakeholders.”
“We apologize that some of the names used during this testing were not professionally chosen. The employees involved in this situation have had this addressed by their supervisors,” Castle said. “This unfortunate incident does not reflect upon the quality of work that has been and will be conducted by COGCC for all its customers.”
Gov. Jared Polis called the incident “completely unacceptable.”
“Whether you agree with everything the oil and gas industry does or not, in Colorado we treat everyone with honor, respect, and
professionalism,” Polis said in a statement Thursday.
Polis said he’s confident in the leadership of COGCC Chairman Jeff Robbins and Director Julie Murphy and knows they will make sure employees understand their responsibility to the oil and gas industry and its workers.
The release of the emails comes as the COGCC is set to give final approval to a series of sweeping changes to state oil and gas regulations, some of which have met strong opposition from the industry.
Among the rules the commission is expected to vote on Monday are protections for wildlife, a ban on routine venting and flaring of natural gas from wells and other equipment and a 2,000- foot setback between new wells and homes and schools.
The COGCC is overhauling the rules to implement Senate Bill 181, passed by the legislature in 2019 to make protecting public health, safety and the environment the priority when managing oil and gas.
Dan Haley, CEO and president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association trade group, declined to comment on the email. He said in an email that COGA is focused on the final days of the rule- making sessions.
Lynn Granger, executive director of the American Petroleum Institute-Colorado, said she was grateful to Robbins, Murphy and Dan Gibbs, head of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, for their commitment to addressing the behavior by some on the staff. The three spoke at the start of a COGCC meeting Thursday.
“There is much at stake as we look forward to implementing the state’s regulatory overhaul in the months ahead,” Granger said in a statement, “and while it was disheartening to have received a mocking email from state employees tasked with regulating our industry, we are confident that COGCC leadership and Governor Polis will promptly address it.”