The office said Wednesday that Mineral Resources Inc. will pay more than $210,000 to settle the claims.
It says the firm didn’t seek permits from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management before drilling an oil and gas well in a Weld County railroad right of way in 2012. Mineral deposits there are owned by the federal government.
A BLM lease to pay for the minerals is required. A BLM permit also is required to drill in such situations.
A U.S. attorney’s statement says investigators didn’t determine the incident was willful.
Mineral Resources didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.