NORFOLK, Va. — A bipartisan group of Virginia lawmakers is turning up the heat on the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) inspector general amid an audit of mail delays and disruptions in the Richmond area.
In a letter addressed to USPS Inspector General Tammy Hull on Wednesday, the lawmakers shared stories of how issues with the Richmond Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC) in Sandston are affecting people differently.
The letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, and U.S. Reps. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Bobby Scott (VA-03), Rob Wittman (VA-01), Abigail Spanberger (VA-07), Bob Good (VA-05), and Jen Kiggans (VA-02).
The message to Hull comes as her office looks into the Sandston facility to address delays and disruptions as far back as mid-2023. Notably, the facility's issues resulted in hundreds of colon cancer screening test samples sent to the Richmond VA Medical Center being thrown out.
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“Since last summer, we have seen a significant uptick in mail disruptions and delays within the Richmond RPDC’s covered area," the lawmakers wrote. They continued: "While we are always open to changes to longstanding practices to improve efficiency, the ongoing stream of reports we get suggests that the opposite is happening."
One example the lawmakers shared in the letter is a Vietnam veteran from Mechanicsville who hasn't received medications from the Department of Veterans Affairs despite being mailed at the end of December.
Another story involved an operator of a medical supply business in Richmond, who the lawmakers say lost a business relationship with a key distributor after more than $1,000 in supplies were never delivered nor recovered.
Two more examples include delays with tax collections and operations in the Northern Neck area, and the loss of a Virginia Commonwealth University PhD student's visa application to Italy.
The lawmakers wrote that while they've shared their concerns directly with USPS, the letter could inform Hull's audit and "contribute to a better understanding of what is going on and how to fix it."
