Postal service may close EC processing center

The U.S. Postal Service announced late last week that the 54,000-square-foot Eau Claire mail processing facility located at Hogarth Avenue, which employs 110 people, may be one of a number of similar sites that could be closed in the coming months.

The postal service, which is estimated to lose as much as $10 billion in its current fiscal year, has targeted 252 of the 487 processing operations in the nation for possible closure. The proposal could save the postal service as much as $3 billion a year.

According to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe in a news release, the postal service has closed 186 processing facilities, removed more than 1,500 pieces of mail processing equipment and reduced its workforce by more than 110,000 through attrition since 2006.

"With the proposed change, the new service standard would become two to three days, meaning that, on average, customers would no longer receive mail the day after it was mailed," said Donahoe.

As a result of the announcement, the postal service sent a letter to all local post office box customers asking for input during the time which the operation will determine which mail processing facilities will be closed or consolidated. A final decision is expected in early 2012.

Other Wisconsin processing centers considered for closure include Kenosha, LaCrosse, Portage and Wausau. TBL