State whistleblowers say several NoCo industrial sites improperly exempted from emissions rules

DENVER — A group of whistleblowers at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment have told federal regulators that managers at the department told them to approve air emissions permits that broke federal rules, including at sites in Northern Colorado.

The joint letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general claims that staffers at the department were ordered this month to not review short-term emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter that would count against federally-set limits on airborne pollution, or create models that would anticipate emissions beyond those federal limits.

“In short, under this policy, permit…