Representative Raul Ruiz is calling for a congressional hearing on what he calls an “impending public health crisis at the Salton Sea.”
Representative Raul Ruiz (D - Palm Desert) has been adamant that federal agencies intervene and stop the shrinking Salton Sea from becoming a public health crisis as toxic dust wafts up from its receding shoreline.
Earlier this month, Ruiz and Representative Juan Vargas of Imperial County wrote a letter to the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources, asking him to hold a congressional hearing on the matter.
Ruiz: “I wrote a letter to Chairman Grivalja and Chairman Huffman, who had the jurisdiction of the Salton Sea issues in their committee to have a hearing so that we can bring in the relevant federal agencies and ask them the tough questions and hold them accountable to their side of the agreement with the partnership with the state.”
Ruiz says federal action is crucial to stopping the imminent health crisis at the Salton Sea.
Ruiz: “This is an all hands on deck responsibility for the county, local stakeholders, the state, and the federal government, including the tribe, who all own property under the Salton Sea. This is a collective potential public health crisis, with the dust being blown into the air that are so small they can penetrate the lungs and these are dust particles containing metals and pesticides that can really exacerbate the already high rates of childhood asthma, hospitalization rates. So it's important that the federal agencies who are a part of the ten-year mitigation plan from the state do their part in a timely manner because this is just moving way too slow for my liking.”