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Why It Could Take $5 Billion To Clean Up Quake Damage At China Lake

Arthurgwain L. Marquez
/
NAWS China Lake Facebook Page
Civilian Department of Defense personnel dislodge damaged building equipment at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake following two powerful earthquakes that shook the remote Mojave region July 4 and 5, 2019.

Less than 10 miles away from the epicenters of the two powerful earthquakes that shook the Ridgecrest area over Independence Day weekend lies a military base: Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. It’s huge—larger than nine U.S. states—it’s critical for the research, development and testing of Naval weapons and aircraft and, at an industry presentation earlier this month, the Navy Facilities Engineering Command Southwest revealed that it could cost up to $5 billion to repair all the damage at the installation caused by the quakes.

What happened? And how could an important installation with such sensitive material have been so vulnerable to seismic damage? In this interview, FM89’s Kerry Klein shines some light on the damage that occurred, what the repairs could entail, and what lawmakers in Congress have to say about appropriating the necessary funding.

Kerry Klein is an award-winning reporter whose coverage of public health, air pollution, drinking water access and wildfires in the San Joaquin Valley has been featured on NPR, KQED, Science Friday and Kaiser Health News. Her work has earned numerous regional Edward R. Murrow and Golden Mike Awards and has been recognized by the Association of Health Care Journalists and Society of Environmental Journalists. Her podcast Escape From Mammoth Pool was named a podcast “listeners couldn’t get enough of in 2021” by the radio aggregator NPR One.
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