Not much positive can be said about the government shutdown.

The self-imposed, 16-day impasse drained $24 billion from the economy, according to S&P.

But if there's anything in which to take solace, it's this. The downtime allowed workers at the Environmental Protection Agency to clean out their refrigerators, and they found a 16-year old can of soup in the process, the Washington Post's Emily Heil reports.

From WaPo:

From the e-mail: “During the shutdown, we made every effort to water accessible plants. And of necessity, the refrigerators were emptied of all perishable foodstuffs last week. The oldest food found? A can of Campbell’s soup dated 1997! So, please remember it is everyone’s responsibility to keep the refrigerators clean.”

1997? For a government agency tasked with tracking hazardous waste, this is pretty embarrassing.

Read the full report at the Washington Post »