"EPA's Methane Estimates for Oil and Gas Sector Under Investigation"

"An environmental group argues the agency significantly underestimates methane emissions from the oil and gas industries. The inspector general is now investigating."

"The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General will investigate how the agency estimates methane emissions from the oil and gas sector after an environmental group alleged that its emission estimates and regulations are based, in part, on faulty studies.

The evaluation, announced Wednesday, will focus on a pair of studies conducted jointly by the University of Texas–Austin and the Environmental Defense Fund in 2013-2014 that found methane emissions to be lower than EPA estimates. The studies, which were done in cooperation with a number of oil and gas companies, were subsequently challenged for allegedly using faulty equipment and underestimating emissions.

'This evaluation's objectives are examining the results of and concerns/problems with the 2013 and 2014 emission studies conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund and the University of Texas-Austin,' EPA OIG spokesperson Jennifer Kaplan said in an email."

Phil McKenna reports for InsideClimate News June 22, 2017.