AUSTIN,TX— On Wednesday, May 19, .at approximately 4 p.m., the U.S. Postal Service will conduct a practice evacuation drill at the Austin Processing & Distribution Center, located at 8225 Cross Park Dr., Austin, TX 78710.

This practice drill is being conducted to allow the USPS Emergency Management Team (EMT) to gauge the effectiveness of the processes that are currently in place to handle a hazardous materials emergency.

To further gauge efficiency, the local fire and rescue units, and other emergency responders, will participate in the drill as well. This drill will be conducted at the Austin Mail Processing Plant alone — no customers in the Austin area will be affected.

This advisory is being issued to alleviate any erroneous reports of an actual emergency situation at the facility on this date. The exercise is only a drill, which will last approximately one hour. Security measures will be enacted to mirror an actual emergency, thus allowing the Postal Service to adequately measure the level of preparedness.

Any news media questions about this practice drill should be directed to Barbara Pokorny, at 512-342-1236.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 26th in the 2008 Fortune 500.