FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS IN L.A. FOR INTERVIEWS ON SUBWAY LINE.

Byline: David Bloom Daily News Staff Writer

U.S. Senate investigators of the troubled $5.8 billion Metro Red Line subway are conducting interviews in Los Angeles to prepare for a fall hearing in Washington, D.C., officials said Thursday.

Senior Investigator Eric Thorsen and Staff Counsel Michael Bopp of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations already have met with a broad range of critics and regulators, according to several officials who have been interviewed.

``I was very impressed with their comprehension of the fraud, corruption and incompetence in the $300-million-per-mile subway program,'' said Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, a longtime subway critic and MTA board member. ``It was very encouraging. When this hits, it will be a devastating 8.7 earthquake on this program.''

On Wednesday, while the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board held its monthly meeting, the investigators were touring Red Line tunnels, according to other officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The investigation was first publicly acknowledged by subcommittee officials last month. But they declined Thursday to provide more details about the investigation's scope or targets while the probe is continuing.

U.S. Sen. William Roth, R-Del., the committee chairman and a major supporter of the probe, also declined comment.

The investigators have been sent reams of documents, audits, contact numbers for former employees and other information collected by, among others, Hollywood Damage Control and Recovery, said Jerry Schneiderman, chairman of the group suing the MTA for damages related to subway tunneling. ``I can only confirm that we sent them a huge pile of documents and a list of things they should be looking at a couple of weeks ago,'' Schneiderman said.

Schneiderman otherwise declined to discuss any contacts this week with Bopp and Thorsen, who did not return phone calls.

MTA officials pledged to cooperate with the investigation but otherwise declined to discuss any contacts with Thorsen and Bopp, saying it was inappropriate during the investigation.

Antonovich said the subcommittee plans to hold a daylong hearing in the fall in Washington, D.C., to outline problems with the project.