Justice Department denies mishandling Alaska spill probe

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday denied allegations by a former EPA investigator that it prematurely called off a criminal probe into pipeline spills at a BP Plc oilfield in Alaska in 2006.

Late last year, BP agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act and pay a $20 million fine.

Scott West, a just-retired former head of an Environmental Protection Agency probe into the spills, claims the Justice Department settled with the London-based oil company for less than the case may have warranted.

"The allegations by Mr. West that the Department improperly handled the case are not based in fact and are simply not true," the Justice Department said on Thursday.

"As with any investigation, there comes a point in time when further investigation is no longer warranted, if it does not have a realistic chance of generating useful evidence."

Investigators from the EPA and Federal Bureau of Investigation agreed with the prosecutors' approach, the Justice Department added in an email statement.

West joined environmental group Sea Shepherd this month, after being with the EPA for nearly two decades.

(Reporting by Braden Reddall; Editing by Walter Bagley)