USPS to study closure of Hooper, Malden offices

Just months after taking over postal duties for Washtucna, the Hooper post office could also be closed.

The United States Postal Service released Monday a list of post offices it is studying for closure. Both the Hooper and Malden post offices made the list.

Hooper’s rural carrier has been delivering Washtucna mail to a cluster of postal boxes installed earlier this year.

Washtucna’s post office was closed in April after officials determined mold levels in the building created an unhealthy work environment.

Ernie Swanson, press agent for the postal service in Seattle, said the Washtucna service will be a factor in the Hooper decision.

“These offices are just up for study,” said Swanson. “That Hooper handles Washtucna’s mail will be one of the things we look at.”

Postal officials have been looking to eliminate small offices as a way to stop the agency’s operating losses.

Swanson said last year, the postal service lost about $8.5 billion. The postal service is expected to lose $7 billion to $8 billion by the end of this fiscal year, which closes in September.

“Our customers’ habits have made it clear that they no longer require a physical post office to conduct most of their postal business,” Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a release Tuesday.

Overall, the agency is studying the effects of closing some 3,700 post offices. Replacement options may take the form of cluster boxes, like Washtucna, or moving postal services into local businesses.

The agency has already posted plans to close post offices in Steptoe, Latah, Viola and Waverly. Other post offices near Whitman County to make the list were Starbuck in Columbia County and Tensed, Desmet and Harvard in Idaho.