The USPS Office of the Inspector General announced an investigation of the entire Minnesota-North Dakota postal district Wednesday following the results of an audit of the St. Paul Processing and Distribution center and delivery units in New Brighton, Eagan and Apple Valley.

An audit of the Eagan and Apple Valley post offices cited nearly 140,000 pieces of delayed mail, inadequate resources for postal workers and mail security issues, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-2nd District.

Craig, a Democrat who represents the south metro, and Rep. Pete Stauber, a northeastern Minnesota Republican, led the Minnesota delegation in a bipartisan call last week for an investigation into USPS service in the Minnesota-North Dakota district.

“For over a year, I’ve been sounding the alarm on unacceptable service from USPS,” Craig said in the release. “And for over a year, USPS leadership has given my office the runaround, saying there’s nothing wrong, in spite of the thousands of messages I’ve received from Minnesotans who aren’t getting their mail.”

This time last year, Craig put out a call to Minnesotans to gauge the extent of the postal issues and received more than 3,300 responses that she delivered to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

Last November, Craig called on USPS officials to consolidate two aging post offices in Farmington and Lakeville into a larger facility to meet the needs of the area.

Results from the audits included issues with delayed mail, package scanning, staffing and property conditions.

U.S. Sen. Tina Smith also has raised concerns over the past year and had asked the Inspector General to expand the scope of their investigations in Minnesota. “I am grateful that they will do so in the coming months,” Smith said.

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