Temporary postal facility
may be opened in Monroe
By jennifer dome
Staff Writer
MONROE — The U.S. Postal Service is expected to open a new processing facility in Monroe to temporarily replace its operations in Hamilton, where anthrax was detected in the fall, U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-6th District) has announced.
According to Dan Quinn, a U.S. Postal Service spokesman for the Central New Jersey District, negotiations for several properties have been under way for several months. Although the temporary post office site has not been officially determined, the postal service has been looking at a 200,000-square-foot facility in the township, Quinn said.
Nick Manetto, press secretary for Smith, said that the Monroe facility in question is located near exit 8A of the New Jersey Turnpike, though the actual location has not been disclosed.
"Hamilton-area customers and Hamilton-area postal workers have been extraordinarily understanding as the post office and other governmental agencies work to safely and completely clean the Hamilton post office and restore operations to 100 percent," Smith said.
Discoveries of anthrax at the U.S. Postal Processing and Distribution Center on Route 130 South in Hamilton, Mercer County, closed the site in October 2001. Although the postal service relocated its carrier and processing operations to other sites, it has also been looking for other suitable places to base their operations while decontamination takes place in Hamilton, Quinn said.
Postal employees from Hamilton were initially relocated to processing sites, including the postal service’s former Material Distribution Center in South River, located at 2 Brick Plant Road. Quinn said the carrier operations have been relocated to another site on Route 130 in Hamilton Township.
While no decisions have been made concerning the South River facility, Quinn said the material distribution center is still being used and may continue to be used even after the site in Monroe opens. The South River facility formerly distributed supplies to all post offices east of the Mississippi River, but was closed more than a year ago, since it was no longer needed after the supply centers were consolidated into one facility in Topeka, Kan.
Smith, who met with postal officials Monday, said that more than 60 postal employees may be permanently reassigned to facilities where they were previously placed as a temporary assignment when the Hamilton facility was closed. His press secretary said Tuesday that while Smith does not oppose the opening of a Monroe site, he is concerned about the effect it will have on the Hamilton employees.
"An inordinately long commute is not what the Hamilton employees signed on for. They signed up to work in Hamilton Township, and they deserve to work in Hamilton," Smith said.
The Associated Press reported this week that the Hamilton building is in line for decontamination after work at the Postal Service’s Brentwood facility in Washington, D.C. is completed. Work on the Brentwood site is expected to begin in the next month.
After last fall’s anthrax scare, five people died and 13 others became ill. In the state, five confirmed anthrax infections and two suspected cases occurred, though there were no fatalities, according to The Associated Press. No arrests have been made with regard to the anthrax attacks, despite an offered $2.5 million reward from the government.