Postal facility closing a second jolt for Gloucester County

A day after learning that 400 refinery workers would be furloughed, Gloucester County has now found out it will be hit with an even larger blow - the closing of a U.S. Postal Service distribution site in Logan Township.

Gloucester County Freeholder Director Stephen Sweeney today called word of the potential job losses "real bad news." Eagle Point Refinery yesterday announced it would be indefinitely idling its Eagle Point Refinery, which employs 400 full-time workers and hundreds of independent contractors.

The Postal Service is planning to close its Philadelphia Logistics and Distribution Center, in Logan Township's Pureland Industrial Complex, by March, Sweeney said. The facility employs 650 people.

"To lose all those jobs in one shot, it's very hurtful," said Sweeney, who is also a state Senator.

He said his office had received notice from both the U.S. Postal Service and the labor union representing workers there that the regional distribution center will be closed.

Sweeney said he has asked U.S. Rep. Robert Andrews' office to analyze whether the post office closing is justified. He worried about the impact on workers.

"In this economy, there's nowhere to go," Sweeney said.

The state Labor department is working to get a "rapid response team" either to the Sunoco site or in touch with displaced workers.

The teams, dispatched to help after large layoffs, help sign people up for unemployment benefits and explain what services are available at state career centers, said department spokesman Kevin Smith.

Smith said the teams typically try to go on site while workers are still there, but this afternoon, it was still unclear how long the plant would be open.

Smith said the department was still working out the details of where and when a response team would arrive.