Airports to get stimulus funds
The Homeland Security Department will be distributing $1 billion in stimulus funding to airports.
The Homeland Security Department initiated plans to distribute $1 billion in economic stimulus funds to pay for checked baggage scanners and explosive detection systems at as many as 17 airports, officials have announced.
The projects will create more than 3,000 jobs and continue the department's security strategies, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement on March 5.
The department intends to allocate $700 million to checked baggage explosive detection systems and $300 million to checkpoint explosive detection technology. The checkpoint technology includes X-ray units, Whole Body Imaging technology and Bottled Liquid scanners.
The projects are being proposed for airports in Anchorage, Alaska; Atlanta; Columbia and Dayton, Ohio; Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii; Jackson Hole, Wyo.; New Orleans; Orange County, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif.; Orlando and Tallahassee, Fla.; Philadelphia; and Portland, Maine.