Ruiz visits Oasis Mobile Home Park, discusses infrastructure concerns: 'I am working to make sure our communities get our fair share of federal funding'

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Congressman Raul Ruiz and White House Advisor Mitch Landrieu visit Oasis Mobile Home Park in Thermal, California, as part of the Biden administration's Investing in America Tour. | Congressman Raul Ruiz Staff

United States Congressman Raul Ruiz (D-CA) and White House Senior Advisor Mitch Landrieu completed an infrastructure tour of California’s 25th District April 4 including the Oasis Mobile Home Park in Thermal.

The visit, which is a part of the Biden administration’s Investing in America Tour, featured roundtable discussions with community leaders in Hemet and Thermal, according to a press release from Ruiz’s office. The discussions provided community leaders with the opportunity to share their infrastructure concerns and discuss potential grants for projects under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) officials and residents at the mobile home park called attention to the area's lack of a clean water supply, the release stated.  In September 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued an emergency order about the drinking water at Oasis Mobile Home Park due to “ongoing problems” that “endanger residents.”

“For far too long, our nation’s crumbling infrastructure has caused families to drive on uneven roads, lack access to clean drinking water, and struggle with reliable broadband access," Ruiz said. "That is why I voted and advocated for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is already hard at work bringing our infrastructure into the 21st century."

The congressman said supporting the legislation was just the beginning and he is focused on finding ways to bring more federal dollars into California for quality-of-life improvements.

"Now, I am working to make sure our communities get our fair share of federal funding under this historic law to improve clean water access, build safer roads, boost clean energy development, and lower costs for Riverside County families from the San Jacinto Valley and San Gorgonio Pass communities eastward to Blythe,” Ruiz said. “I look forward to continuing my collaboration with the administration to improve the lives of the people I serve.”

The Investing in America Tour is about more than infrastructure, the release stated, as the effort will help build the American economy in a "bottom-up and middle-out" fashion.

California is expected to get a significant share of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for numerous projects including improving provisions of clean drinking water, creating good-paying jobs in the renewable energy field, and fixing highways, according to the release.

Since the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, approximately $15 billion has been earmarked to California for transportation and clean water, the release stated.

Addressing the need for clean water at Oasis will alleviate what has been an environmental concern for both residents and local leaders spanning the last few years, according to the EPA. The water that serves Oasis has been found to contain dangerous arsenic levels, which the EPA addressed with a trio of emergency orders from August 2019 to September 2021.

The third emergency order directed park owners to provide at least one gallon of drinking water per person, per day to residents for free, submit a sampling plan to verify the efficacy of measures put in place to control the arsenic, as well as an action plan to treat excessive levels of arsenic in the system, according to the EPA.