RUMFORD – The Rumford Social Security office is not closing, U.S. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe said.

Snowe investigated Friday after learning of the possible closure, said spokesman Jason Galanes at the senator’s office in Washington, D.C.

“As soon as we were given a heads up, she was on it,” he said late Friday afternoon.

A federal union official on Thursday e-mailed Maine state and federal lawmakers, including Snowe, telling them that Social Security claimants and beneficiaries in western Maine were being forced to travel to the Auburn office for service.

In an e-mail to U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, William Thoms, the secretary-treasurer of Local 1164 of the American Federation of Government Employees, said the administration was planning to close its Rumford office at 3 Canal St.

Thoms said that two years ago, the Social Security Administration regional managers had reduced staff and downgraded the status of the Rumford office.

“Now, after recent attrition, staffing in Rumford has reached the point where the loss of just one more employee would force closure,” Thoms stated.

But Galanes said Snowe sought and received assurance from Manuel Vaz, the Social Security Administration’s New England Regional commissioner in Boston, that the administration had no intention of closing the Rumford office.

“Vaz was definitely aware of Sen. Snowe’s concerns. He said that there are no plans to close the Rumford, Maine, Social Security office, period,'” Galanes said.

In a Friday afternoon press release, Snowe stated that she was “pleased” that the administration is committed to retaining the Rumford office.

Efforts to increase staffing at the Rumford office are ongoing, although, so far, they have been unsuccessful, Galanes said he was told.

Then, when management began shipping Rumford work to the Auburn Social Security office, a rumor began circulating that the Rumford office was to be consolidated with the Auburn office, Galanes said.

That rumor, Snowe was told, was unfounded.

Some casework had been temporarily transferred to Auburn to alleviate excessive workloads and prevent backlog in the interim, Galanes said.

To further ensure that there are no disruptions of services while the Rumford office seeks to increase its staff, Snowe said she would continue to work with Vaz.