By Shelby Sebens
PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Oregon's Congressional delegation sent a letter on Tuesday to the U.S. Postmaster General decrying the closure and consolidation of mail processing centers in their vote-by-mail state, complaining of delays in mail delivery in rural areas.
Both of Oregon's U.S. Senators and all five U.S. Representatives signed the letter to Postmaster General Megan Brennan lamenting the negative impact of consolidating or closing plants and demanded an explanation of steps the Postal Service has taken to save money in other areas.
The Postal Service already closed processing centers in Salem, Klamath Falls and Pendleton in previous years, and in April closed most processing operations in Bend. In July, it will also stop processing mail in Eugene, officials said.
The processing center closures in Oregon are part of a plan by the service launched in 2012 to get its financial house in order by reducing operating costs by $20 billion by 2017, USPS spokeswoman Sue Brennan said.
"The proposal offered by the Postal Service is troubling in several ways," U.S. Senator Ron Wyden said in a statement. "It would be felt across our state and Oregonians would endure these closures through degraded service and force them to wait longer for the delivery of crucial items ranging from mail-order prescriptions to Social Security checks. It will affect small businesses and Oregon's vote-by-mail system."
A USPS spokeswoman said she did not know if the Postmaster General had received the letter.
The Oregon lawmakers met with Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman last week to discuss the Postal Service's plans to deal with its chronic budget and the impact on Oregon.
In 2015, 75 postal facilities across the country will be repurposed to handle other postal services needs and seven will be closed, Brennan said.
"Mail volume has declined dramatically in the past 10 years and we've been left with an abundance of excess capacity," she added.
Lawmakers have asked for more information on what repurposing those Oregon mail facilities will mean for the communities.
"Oregonians are already paying too high a price for USPS's consolidation plans with longer delivery times already being felt in the Mid-Willamette Valley following the closure of the Salem Processing Facility," U.S. Representative Kurt Schrader, a Democrat, said.
"Closing the Bend and Eugene mail processing facilities would be devastating to already deteriorating service standards in our rural communities," he added.