  We investigate the impact of environment on the metallicity of the diffuse
intergalactic medium. We use pixel correlation techniques to search for weak
CIV and OVI absorption in the spectrum of quasar Q1422+231 in regions of the
spectrum close to and far from galaxies at z ~ 3. This is achieved both by
using the positions of observed Lyman break galaxies and by using strong CIV
absorption as a proxy for the presence of galaxies near the line of sight. We
find that the metal line absorption is a strong function of not only the HI
optical depth (and thus gas density) but also proximity to highly enriched
regions (and so proximity to galaxies). The parameter ``proximity to galaxies''
can account for some, but not all, of the scatter in the strength of CIV
absorption for fixed HI. Finally, we find that even if we limit our analysis to
the two thirds of the pixels that are at least 600 km/s from any CIV line that
is strong enough to detect unambiguously (tau_CIV > 0.1), our statistical
analysis reveals only slightly less CIV for fixed HI than when we analyze the
whole spectrum. We conclude that while the metallicity is enhanced in regions
close to (Lyman-break) galaxies, the enrichment is likely to be much more
widespread than their immediate surroundings.
