$300,000 In Stimulus Funds Spent Locating Rabbit Poop By Helicopter At Hanford

http://www.seattlepi.com/

What's up, Doc? Radioactive rabbit poop at Hanford

By John Stang SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF It was a low-flying poop detector.

That is if the poop was radioactive.

In late September, a helicopter hovered 50 feet above the Hanford nuclear reservation, methodically hunting almost 16 square miles for radioactive poop that critters with a taste for salt spread.

Going about 80 mph, the helicopter used detection equipment attached to its sides to map out each piece with GPS coordinates.

Between the helicopter survey and the GPS coordinates, the radioactive scat can be found and removed in days rather than the months that would have been needed for people search for the poop on the ground, said Dee Millikin, spokeswoman for CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Co. That company is responsible for much of the environmental cleanup of central Hanford....

... Nevada-based National Security Technologies did the helicopter survey for $300,000 in federal stimulus money sent to Hanford.