After a three-month probe, the OIG's audit and investigation units also partially substantiated seven allegations that the Daily News reported and did not confirm 10 others.
The report noted, however, that investigators didn't begin interviews until Dec. 8, a week after the allegations began appearing in the Daily News.
But the report took seriously 18 allegations, which were reported from Dec. 1 through Dec. 19 and some of which were included in a complaint filed last fall by the Philadelphia American Postal Workers Union (APWU).
Among the partially confirmed allegations were:
* A small amount of first-class mail, periodicals and circulars were destroyed, as was reported in the paper, but the destruction was not intentional.
* Mail delivery was delayed to customers more than the national average, but investigators could not determine the extent of the delays.
* Mail was shipped to other plants but was returned unsorted. Miscommunication was blamed in one instance, but OIG could not confirm that management routinely rerouted mail elsewhere to reduce the mail count.
* Prescription drugs, periodicals, laboratory samples and flat envelopes were delayed, but investigators could not confirm that it took weeks for delivery, as several customers told the Daily News. Some lab samples were mislabeled.
* Damaged packages and missing contents were caused by equipment failures.
* Delivery of first-class mail and business-reply envelopes were delayed. OIG confirmed a problem with one business customer, although the Daily News gave examples of other customers who said they'd encountered problems with the Postal Service.
