Feds meet with Oasis Mobile Home Park residents living with contaminated water in Thermal
U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz and the region's Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Martha Guzman updated residents at Oasis Mobile Home Park in Thermal on Wednesday about ongoing efforts to provide clean water there, as well as in other parts of the eastern Coachella Valley.
For decades, residents of different mobile home parks in the area have been dealing with water contaminated with arsenic, which, in large amounts, is known to cause rashes, skin disorders or even coma or death. In the past six months alone, the EPA has cited seven parks in the east valley for having water that contains arsenic levels above federal legal limits — even from a faucet equipped with a filter — and thousands of times above state public health guidelines.
Guzman said there were "unseen levels of contamination" in the region but suggested that funding from the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund, a state program that aims to provide $130 million per year to improve different small water systems in California in violation of drinking water standards, and other agencies could help establish a solution in the east valley.
"This part of the valley has long been on the state's list of chronic disinvestment," Guzman told The Desert Sun. "We're working together, with local government and organizations, to ensure nobody gets left behind. There's alignment among agencies now. Twenty years ago, the Coachella Valley Water District wouldn't have even taken this on."
In March, Ruiz's office announced he'd helped secure $2.7 million in federal funding to improve access to safe water in Mecca, also in the east valley, in partnership with CVWD. Most recently, CVWD and the Riverside County Board of Supervisors devised a plan to jointly fund the expansion of sewer infrastructure in Mecca with a project that totals $6.2 million, with each contributing half of the costs.
"You can't address water without addressing sewage, without addressing trash and without addressing electricity. These are fundamental resources and I don't accept complacency with the current living conditions," Ruiz said on Wednesday.
Guzman and Ruiz also made themselves available for residents to ask questions, though few approached them.
Maria Benito, who's been living at Oasis Mobile Home Park for 10 years, said she had not been informed directly that Ruiz or Guzman would be at the park, but that she'd heard from other residents who were told. Still, she said she was reluctant to talk because that rarely yielded any improvements.
"These agencies come and ask us about the living conditions and about relocation, but nothing changes. They come to get information, but we're not told how much longer we're going to live like this," Benito said. She complained about getting rashes on her back, for which she blames the "contaminated, filthy water," she must use to shower.
But Magdalena Arroyo, who's resided at Oasis for 13 years, was eager to speak to Guzman and Ruiz, inclusively apologizing to Ruiz for all the messages that she sends to his office. "Keep sending them," was Ruiz's response.
"It gives me hope that (Guzman) is here. If she sees the poor conditions we live in, I think that'll lead to change that's beneficial," Arroyo said.
It was Guzman's first time visiting Oasis Mobile Home Park, having stepped into her role as regional administrator with the EPA recently, in December 2021. She said she is familiar with the area, however. Her family lives in Imperial Valley and her husband is from Thermal. For that reason, she added, improving the situation at east valley mobile home parks is also a "personal" investment.
Guzman said she plans to visit again in August.
Eliana Perez covers the eastern Coachella Valley, including the cities of Indio and Coachella. Reach her at eliana.perez@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ElianaPress.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Feds meet with Oasis Mobile Home Park residents living with contaminated water in Thermal
