Former egg farm workers say USDA ignored complaints | Nation | News from Fort Worth, Dal...

Former egg farm workers say USDA ignored complaints | Nation | News from Fort Worth, Dal...

By Michael J. Crumb

The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa -- U.S. Agriculture Department employees worked full-time at two Iowa egg farms at the center of a salmonella outbreak, but two former workers said they ignored complaints about conditions at one site.

The USDA employees worked next to areas where roughly 7.7 million caged hens laid eggs at the two operations, but agency spokesman Caleb Weaver said that their main duties are "grading" the eggs and that they aren't primarily responsible for looking for health problems.

In response to the outbreak that has led to a recall of about 550 million eggs, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration examined the Wright County Egg and Hillandale farms and noted in a report this week that inspectors found rodents, wild birds, seeping manure and maggots in the operations there.

Weaver said the USDA employee who oversaw grading at the facility did not recall anyone raising issues.

Two former workers at Wright County Egg facilities, Robert and Deanna Arnold, said they reported problems such as leaking manure and dead chickens to USDA employees, but nothing was done.

The USDA "graders" worked in buildings next to where hens laid eggs, focusing on weighing, measuring and inspecting eggs before they were packaged. They are the people who determine whether an egg is A or AA, for instance.

"It didn't matter which USDA officer was working -- if we reported something they would just turn their heads," Deanna Arnold said. "They didn't care."

She recalled that when she advised one USDA employee of a problem, she was told to ignore it.

"She just said 'Go back to doing your job,' and that there was nothing they



Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/09/03/2444556/former-egg-farm-workers-say-usda.html#ixzz0ygIE3veb