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Source: Pioneer Press, St.文件倉 Paul, Minn.July 13--A Ramsey County district judge on Friday denied St. Paul's request to block a state takeover of city property inspections, saying the state has provided clear evidence of problems that threaten public safety.In June, Minnesota's Health and Agriculture departments told St. Paul that they planned to end "delegation agreements" whereby city workers rather than state officials have inspected everything from restaurants and grocery stores to swimming pools.The state agencies said the city's poor performance on inspections threatened public health -- a charge they sought to substantiate Friday by releasing a document that cited cases of "rat-gnawed food product" and pig blood dripping "over open boxes of beef chubs."A city official, however, said the examples cited by the state included inaccuracies and misleading statements.St. Paul sought a temporary restraining order this month, saying the city was making improvements to a program that for decades has been responsible for St. Paul inspections.In her order Friday, District Judge Elena Ostby said the city's claims were primarily economic in nature and didn't justify immediate court action."The city clearly admits to deficiencies in its inspection programs," Ostby wrote. "(The state agencies) have submitted uncontroverted evidence of such deficiencies. The current deficiencies jeopardize public safety."State officials welcomed the ruling."Our chief concern is in protecting the public'shealth, and this ruling allows us to move forward and complete the process to do just that," Ed Ehlinger, the state health commissioner, said in a statement.In an interview, Ehlinger praised the judge for ruling that the state has "clearly articulated reasons for declining to continue to delegate the inspection responsibilities."Ben Miller, manager of the food inspection program for the state Department of Agriculture, said in an interview that "St. Paul wasn't adequately meeting the terms of the agreement.""The judge's ruling allows us to go in and do the inspections for those facilities," Miller said.City officials said they are reviewing legal options that could include suing the state.In a statement, Mayor Chris Coleman noted the judge acknowledged that the city had made necessary investments in staffing, resources and policies for the inspections program."I am confident that the city of Saint Paul is best suited to conduct inspections of businesses," Coleman said."I plan to explore all options that return this important line of business back to the city," Coleman's statement later reads.Under its agreement with the Agriculture Department, the city was responsible for inspections of about 630 retail food facilities in St. Paul, such as grocery and convenience stores.The delegation agreement with the Health Department meant the city was responsible for inspecting food, beverage and lodging establishments as well as public pools.During an evaluation in June 2012, state health officials found serious problems with the city inspection program. In November, both sides conditionally agreed to resolve issues within two years.But the Health Department termina存倉ed the agreement this summer after determining the city wasn't making adequate progress.A review of 114 city inspection reports from May to June of this year found "serious" errors in 70 percent of them, state officials said. Among them: citing the wrong city code and leaving out enforcement deadlines.A sample of St. Paul swimming pools showed 74 percent were overdue for inspection. One downtown apartment building's pool was not inspected for more than three years past the scheduled inspection date, even though pools must be inspected annually.St. Paul Safety and Inspections Director Ricardo Cervantes and other city leaders have said the department was making improvements that included hiring six new inspectors, adding more than 1,900 hours of training and reducing case backlogs.A separate evaluation by the Agriculture Department in January and February also found problems with the city's inspection program.The majority of city inspectors could not conduct a risk-based inspection of retail food facilities, said Miller, the Agriculture Department official. City inspectors also didn't seem competent, he said, in reviewing safety plans at facilities that use specialized processes to prepare food, such as canning vegetables or curing meat.The Agriculture Department also had significant concerns that the St. Paul City Council had the ultimate say in imposing penalties against facilities."Having the decision making for enforcement actions rest in an elected and partisan political body is not sufficient to ensure that enforcement decisions are made appropriately and without political influence," the Agriculture Department wrote in a June report.On Friday, the Agriculture and Health departments released documents that highlighted specific health violations in St. Paul.In one case, city inspectors took photos but did not collect samples and issue a sanitary notice despite finding evidence of a rodent infestation, according to the Agriculture Department's document. The evidence included "rat gnawed food product, single service coffee filters had urine/feces on them/their boxes, rat hair present," the department said.In another case, city inspectors did not address "whole pigs dripping blood over open boxes of beef chubs in the meat area." In a third case, a St. Paul inspector did not discuss the problem of cross-contamination after observing multiple species of fish draped on top of each other in a display case, according to the Agriculture Department.Cervantes, the city official, said he was not aware of the incidents involving pig blood and fish, so he could not comment. But in the case of rodent infestation, city inspectors did issue a sanitary notice, he said, and ordered the immediate destruction of the contaminated products.St. Paul has said the state's move will cost it $1 million in lost fees and lead to 15 staff layoffs.Frederick Melo contributed to this report. Christopher Snowbeck can be reached at 651-228-5479. Follow him at www.twitter.com/chrissnowbeck.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) Visit the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) at www.twincities.com Distributed by MCT Information Services自存倉