The mail processing center in Minot will not close under a new plan released Thursday by the U.S. Postal Service.
The processing center in Devils Lake, along with centers in Aberdeen and Pierre in South Dakota, are among the 140 slated for consolidation by February. But Minot has been taken off the closure list, according to Rep. Rick Berg, R-N.D.
"Minot's off the list," Berg said Thursday afternoon. "Since March, the delegation has been telling Postal Service officials that it's a different day in Minot with the boom going on, and that they should consider the volume of mail. I think that played a role in their decision."
Nearly 250 centers will close as the nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service moves forward with a multibillion-dollar cost-cutting plan. The Postal Service on Thursday said it can no longer wait as Congress remains deadlocked over how to help.
Processing at Aberdeen and Pierre will shift to Huron. Processing at Devils Lake will shift to Grand Forks.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe says the agency's mail processing network had simply become too big, given declining first-class mail volume and mounting debt.
It will now consolidate nearly 250 plants as originally proposed, including 48 this summer, but will stretch out the remainder in 2013 and 2014.
"The big decision was this week. At this point, Minot is not on the list and they're not planning to close Minot," Berg said. "Having said that, we need to remain vigilant to let people know what's going on in western North Dakota."
(The Associated Press contributed to this story)