010387 Fed Probers Hit NYC Meat Markets Again

New York Daily News - Federal investigators again fanned out through the city's meat markets before dawn yesterday in a probe into allegations of widespread corruption in the area's meat inspection program.

The Daily News found at least seven inspectors - part of a unit brought in from Omaha - prowling through Manhattan's Meatpacking District in the hours before sunup for the second day in a row yesterday.

Federal authorities told The News that the FBI is also involved in the probe.

No one would discuss the investigation that so far has shut three meat markets, including Plymouth Beef on W. 14th St.

U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors, wearing long white coats and hard hats with "USDA" on them, waved away questions, and workers in the meat markets were tight-lipped about the intense scrutiny.

At Dave's Quality Veal, a man taking orders over the phone declined to identify himself and said simply, "They do their job, we do ours."

The silence extended to Washington. Beth Gaston, a spokeswoman for the department, refused to say whether additional plants had been closed in New York after yesterday's inspections.

"We simply do not believe a day-by-day count is going to help in any way," she said. "That is not useful information, nor does it help our investigators."

Andy Fisher, an aide to Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee that has held hearings on the corruption probe, said New Yorkers have a right to know which meat plants are being closed. He said he saw no reason for the secrecy.

"They should have some sort of reporting mechanism," said Fisher, adding that most cities keep residents informed when restaurants are closed for health reasons. Meat plants, he said, should be no different.

Agriculture Department Inspector General Roger Viadero told the Senate committee that his office has about 10 ongoing investigations of "unscrupulous criminal meat processing businesses and misfeasant [federal] employees" in the New York area.

Part of the probe is concentrating on charges that USDA supervisors discouraged low-level inspectors from reporting safety violations, including rodent infestations and meat stored at unsafe temperatures.

Rep. Nita Lowey (D-Westchester) called yesterday for an aggressive investigation into meat inspectors' "egregious misconduct."

"At a time when mad cow and foot-and-mouth disease are attacking our European neighbors, I am shocked and outraged to learn that some of New York's meat safety inspections have been delinquent in their duty to certify the safety of the region's food supply," Lowey wrote in a letter to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman.

About 300 inspectors oversee the wholesale meat plants in the metropolitan area. It was unclear yesterday how many were suspected of wrongdoing.

The top inspector for the Northeast region, George Puchta, has been reassigned amid the probe.

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