  SU(3)-invariant "spin" chains with a single impurity, such as a modified
exchange coupling on one link, are analyzed using boundary conformal field
theory techniques. These chains are equivalent to a special case of the "tJV"
model, i.e. the t-J model with a nearest neighbour repulsion added. In the
continuum limit they are equivalent to two free bosons at a special value of
the compactification radii. The SU(3) symmetry, which is made explicit in this
formulation, provides insight into the exact solution of a non-trivial boundary
critical point found earlier in another formulation of this model as a theory
of quantum Brownian motion.
