Letter from NC WARN to EPA’s Inspector General. The whistleblower was right, and the cover-up continues. This scandal goes to the core of the vast expansion of fracked gas by Duke Energy and other utilities.
Whistleblower Complaint to EPA
On June 8, 2016, NC WARN filed a complaint with the Office of the Inspector General at the Environmental Protection Agency alleging fraud in two scientific studies of methane emissions levels from the natural gas industry. The lead author was an EPA employee at the time the studies were published and the study results have been used by EPA in setting standards for the gas industry. Over 130 organizations endorsed our call for an investigation. Read more and see our full complaint and list of endorsing organizations.
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EPA’s Methane Estimates for Oil and Gas Sector Under Investigation — Inside Climate News
Record 4-year Global Heating Continues As Whistleblower Complaint Leads to Inquiry into Underreporting of Methane Emissions — Note to Editors from NC WARN
The EPA’s inspector general’s office announced Wednesday that it will evaluate EPA methane emissions estimates for the oil and gas sector to determine “whether concerns about technical or other problems with [the Allen studies of 2013 and 2014] were … addressed or resolved” by the EPA. Those problems were the subject of a June 2016 complaint filed by NC WARN. See report on Inspector General’s announcement in Inside Climate News.
NC WARN Pushes for Investigation of EPA in Methane Scandal — News Release from NC WARN
130 Groups Seek Investigation of EPA Methane Scandal — News Release from NC WARN
NC WARN sent the Inspector General of the US EPA a statement signed by 130 diverse organizations calling for an investigation into our June 8 complaint that scientific fraud and cover-up by agency officials has already wasted crucial years in slowing the climate crisis and has enhanced hazards for gas facility workers and neighbors.
Erratic gizmo helps ignite methane controversy — ClimateWire
Key government reports were wrong about methane leaks’ severity, environmental group alleges — LA Times
Whistleblower: EPA Official Covered up Methane Leakage Problems across US Natural Gas Industry — News Release from NC WARN
NC WARN charged today that a high-ranking federal official connected to the fossil fuel industry committed scientific fraud and possibly criminal misconduct in a case with sweeping ramifications for global climate change and the safety of workers and neighbors of natural gas sites across much of the United States. Read coverage by the LA Times, Washington Post and other media outlets.