PORT ANGELES — There's plenty for U.S. Border Patrol agents to do on the north Olympic Peninsula despite claims to the contrary, a supervising agent told the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce on Monday.

"There's no real reason for anyone to be bored up here," Port Angeles Border Patrol station supervisor Agent Jose Romero said — without mentioning Christian Sanchez, another agent, who last month called the Port Angeles Border Patrol office a "black hole."

At a gathering last month sponsored by a Washington, D.C., open-government group, the Advisory Committee on Transparency, Sanchez said the office had "no mission, no purpose" for its more than 40 agents — 10 times as many as in 2006.

He alleged that he and fellow agents in Port Angeles had little relevant work to perform and sometimes passed time driving around the Peninsula.

He called it "a betrayal of taxpayers. ... It's shameful for me to admit that we, as men, have no purpose (in Port Angeles)."

Sanchez said that when he complained he was ostracized by certain colleagues and supervisors and his family placed under surveillance.

He has dropped out of sight, and one of his attorneys said he does not want to be interviewed "because of the treacherous, isolated environment" in which he works.

Border Patrol officials say they'll investigate Sanchez's allegations and won't comment on his job status.

Staff members from the area's congressional delegation plan to meet this month with the Border Patrol's regional supervisor to review the staffing and mission of the agency in Clallam and Jefferson counties.

On Monday during his 45-minute presentation, Romero said the agency focuses on domestic terrorism, narcotics trafficking and contraband in a coverage area that includes Clallam and Jefferson counties.

Asked by a member of the audience about the claim that "there's not much to do but drive around and make work," Romero urged talking directly to the agents.

"Ask them what they do and how they like it and how much work they do is (boring)," Romero said. "We're happy at the job we do."