Washington Hunting Maps
Was $300,000 for helicopter to hunt for radioactive rabbit droppings a valid purchase?
A favorite scam of the Republican is to make any spending involving animals look silly.
$300,000 of the stimulus was used for a GPS-equipped helicopter to hunt for radioactive rabbit droppings at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state. ( it sounds silly)
The helicopter was able to map each of the slightly radioactive stools with GPS coordinates. Liquid wastes containing radioactive caesium and strontium salts were stored in underground tanks at Hanford, which rabbits routinely burrowed into. helicopter means that the droppings can be located and removed in a matter of days rather than the months that would have been needed for people to search for it on the ground and dispose of the radioactive droppings in the landfill at the Hanford site.
Would radioactive droppings be harmful to the environment?
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/IT-Bunnies_dump_radioactive_waste_at_Hanford-0910094.html
It could be harmful to the environment, given that rabbits are near the bottom of the food chain, and radioactive rabbits have the potential to affect the predator population in the area.
In addition, contaminated rabbit scat can contaminate the soil, and have an adverse affect on not only plants, but the earthworms which are vital for the aeration of the topsoil, which is also vital for plant life to thrive.
Hunting Whitetail (TNT)