RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Dozens of people showed up to a town hall hosted by City of Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Colette Wallace-McEachin Wednesday evening to discuss ongoing mail issues across the city and state.
8News has reported on the frustrations of many residents of the central Virginia region in regards to missing and delayed mail, including important documents, bills and credit card statements, as well as tax and court documents, just to name a few. These issues have resulted in late fees, cancellation of essential services, medical tests expiring and more.
Henrico County resident Melissa Earley spoke at the meeting on Wednesday, saying her mail was stolen and that she believes it led to negative impacts on her health.
“The tragedy for me in my life is I have breast cancer,” Early said.
Early said part of the mail that was taken was a letter urging her to get the groundwater near her home tested for PFAS, which are “forever chemicals” that are known to cause cancer.
It wasn’t until sometime later that she learned in a community meeting that her well was in a high-risk area and she should get the groundwater near her home tested — a test which she said came back positive.
“I should have been given the opportunity to know sooner, and I feel like my chances of survival are less because somebody thought it was okay to steal my mail,” Earley said.
Early’s story was one of many told at Wednesday’s town hall. McEachin’s office also planned one for January, but Postal Service officials declined to attend and the town hall was cancelled.
“Even if the United States Post Office is not going to provide a forum and explain what happens with the mail, we’re going to set up something so that people can see that they are not alone,” said McEachin.
Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan was also at Wednesday’s meeting and addressed the crowd, saying that an audit of the postal facility in the Sandston area of Henrico will be released soon and should help lawmakers shine a light on what’s leading to the issues in central Virginia.
McClellan said that she and other lawmakers will also be touring the facility in mid-March to see it firsthand.
“Once we get that report, that will spell out exactly what’s going on with the Sandston facility,” said McClellan. “If it is a workforce issue, that tells us we need to do something about funding for more workers. If it’s a process issue, that tells us we [need to] put legislation in place,” McClellan said.
Officials at Wednesday’s event encouraged residents who are experiencing mail issues to contact their local representative and file a case. More information about who to contact can be found below:
