A deputy director for the state health department’s water quality lab resigned as they were about to be punished for not acting on information about a chemist who manipulated data, the state medical director told 9NEWS Investigates in an interview Friday. A managing chemist brought the information to the deputy director when the chemist accused of falsifying data went on a long vacation between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2023, according to an internal report on the data manipulation obtained by 9NEWS Investigates. 9NEWS Investigates was the first to make the situation at the state lab public, after learning the lab had been stripped of its certification to run a test for barium, chromium and copper. Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment leadership first learned of the possible data manipulation in February and in August began alerting 69 public water systems whose data had been impacted by the manipulation. For the first time since the story went public, CDPHE’s medical director sat down for an interview on the topic. Read the full story: https://www.9news.com/article/news/investigations/cdphe-water-lab-data-manipulation/73-b2fdeb07-fb17-43d9-a0bd-a2c20b994fcf More local videos here: https://youtube.com/@9news Subscribe to NEXT: https://youtube.com/@Nexton9NEWS Stay connected: 9NEWS Website: https://www.9news.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ilike9news Twitter: https://twitter.com/9NEWS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/9newsdenver/ Download the 9NEWS App: https://www.9news.com/appredirect/ Sign up for the 9NEWSLETTER: https://www.9news.com/email 9NEWS (KUSA) is located in Denver, Colorado.