Twenty post offices in rural Oregon have been removed from a list of postal facilities under consideration for elimination, Sen. Jeff Merkley announced Thursday.

Several Central Oregon post offices are among those that have been spared from closure, including facilities in Antelope, Brothers, Fort Rock, Paulina and Post.

Another 21 Oregon post offices, including the location in the Sunriver Business Park, remain on the list and are being studied for possible closure.

Tuesday, the Postal Service announced it will delay any decision on closing facilities still being studied until at least May 15.

Merkley, D-Ore., called the removal of 20 post offices from the list “a tremendous victory,” in a news release, and vowed to continue fighting the closure of the remaining 21.

Postal Service spokesman Peter Haas said details as to why individual offices were removed from the list are not readily available. A letter from the Postal Service provided by Merkley’s office said if the offices were closed, “inclement topography, lack of local connecting roads and absence of opportunity for alternate access do not allow for reasonable customer access at this time.”

Approximately 3,700 post offices around the country have been studied or are being studied for possible closure to help address the Postal Service’s financial difficulties.

A sharp decline in first-class mail and a congressional directive for the Postal Service to prepay $5.5 billion to cover health care for postal retirees have been cited as the primary factors behind the budget squeeze.

Haas said as in Oregon, several post offices in other states have removed from the list of facilities that could be closed next year, though he was unable to provide precise figures.

“Frankly, we knew going in that not every one of these was going to have a closure. That’s why we studied them,” he said. “It’s required that we study them and get public input, and the process was to see if it’s feasible.”

This week’s announcements do not affect the potential closure of a mail processing center in Bend. A meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 27 at The Riverhouse where the public can provide input to the Postal Service on that proposal.

According to a Postal Service study, closing the processing center would save $2.1 million a year while eliminating 17 jobs and slowing mail delivery by approximately one day.

In October, Merkley introduced the Protecting Rural Post Offices Act, which would prohibit the closing of post offices more than 10 miles from another postal facility. The bill is before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.