BANGOR – The planned merger of Occupational Safety and Health Administration offices in Bangor and Portland is off.

In a joint news release issued early Tuesday evening, members of Maine’s congressional delegation said that they received formal notification that the U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees OSHA, had rejected a proposal to merge Maine’s two existing workplace safety offices into a single site in Augusta.

The delegation argued that the move would affect workers’ health and safety adversely and abandon large areas of Maine.

“This is very good news for the civil servants in Maine who dedicate their careers to ensuring that workers in Maine are working under the safest conditions possible,” Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Reps. Michael Michaud and Tom Allen noted.

“OSHA provides a vital service to workers and it is imperative that all regions of our state have convenient access to OSHA offices,” they said, adding, “OSHA offices in our state are mainstays in our communities and play a vital role in preventing injury, illness and death through outreach, education and compliance assistance.

The anticipated closure of the Bangor office prompted a protest in front of the federal building in Bangor on Jan. 31 that drew more than 20 demonstrators, including Michaud, a papermaker by trade, and former Maine AFL-CIO President Charles O’Leary.

Organized by the Greater Bangor Area Central Labor Council, the protesters cited the hardships moving the office to Augusta would impose on workers from the northern parts of Maine.

Keeping the Bangor office open will save workers and employers from northern Maine 160 extra driving miles – the estimated round-trip distance from Bangor to Augusta.

On Feb. 14, Bangor OSHA employees vacated space at the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building to accommodate the planned expansion of the federal court system.

They’ve since been working out of a hotel room at the Ramada Inn – at a cost of $500 a week – despite the availability of alternative office space in the area at a fraction of the cost.

Now that the consolidation is off, Bangor staffers are slated to return to the federal building, where the court reportedly needed less space than expected.

The U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees OSHA, decided to shift Portland operations to Augusta. Delegation members said they were disappointed that the Portland office was slated to move and said they would continue working with the labor department on the matter.

Led by Michaud, the delegation worked this winter to include language in the Omnibus Appropriations Act instructing OSHA to maintain its Bangor and Portland offices until Congress has had time to review the merger plan.

In addition, the House Appropriations Committee asked for documents showing the plan’s evolution – as well as a cost-based justification for the move. That information has yet to arrive.

More recently, the delegation contacted federal officials including General Services Administrator Stephen Perry, various OSHA officials and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to protest the proposed changes.

According to a recent statement from Michaud’s office, renovations at 330 Civic Center, where OSHA had planned to move, cost an estimated $200,000. That space reportedly is no longer available and has been leased to a state government entity.