EPA agents search Chevron facilities in Alaska

Agents from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigating possible air-pollution violations spent two days searching Chevron-owned oil facilities in Alaska, company and government officials said Thursday. Agents searched the facilities on Tuesday and Wednesday, said Andrew Ames, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. He declined to provide further information.

Chevron spokesman Mickey Driver said the searches occurred at the company's Trading Bay production facility and Granite Point tank farm on the western side of Cook Inlet.

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EPA is investigating air-emission compliance at those facilities, Driver said in an email.

"We have been and will continue to cooperate with the US-EPA in this matter. We have been working cooperatively with the US-EPA since 2008 in responding to inquiries regarding the Trading Bay facility," he said.

"We place the highest priority on protecting the environment. Our policies and procedures are designed to emphasize and monitor compliance with all environmental and worker-safety laws."

Officials from EPA's regional office in Seattle were not immediately available for comment.

The EPA investigation follows a similar air-pollution investigation conducted by the state, said a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

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