Environment

Tests from two public schools in the Bronx found elevated levels of lead in their water, with one testing 16 times higher than Flint, Michigan. The tests were carried out by the Department of Education DOE in conjunction with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The city Department of Education issued letters to parents earlier this week informing them that lead levels were higher than the EPA’s action level of 15 parts per billion, NBC New York reports.

The US Army Corps of Engineer has granted the final easement necessary to finish construction on the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, dealing a major blow to the Standing Rock Sioux  tribe. President Donald Trump had issued an executive order to review the project quickly. In a court filing  the Army Corps said it would allow the final 1.5 miles of the more than 1,700-mile pipeline to tunnel under the Missouri River north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The mayor of Ankara warned on Tuesday that hostile outside forces were planning to orchestrate a manmade earthquake in Turkey, capable of wreaking huge damage across the country.  Melih Gokcek, who has been mayor since 1994, made the claims via Twitter on Tuesday, hinting that sophisticated weather warfare technology would be used to trigger a manmade earthquake which would damage Turkey’s economy.

Submitted by Raul Ilargi Meijer via The Automatic Earth blog,

Dr John Bates' disclosures about the manipulation of data behind the so-called 'Pausebuster' paper is the biggest scientific scandal since 'Climategate' in 2009 when, as Britain's Daily Mail reported, thousands of leaked emails revealed scientists were trying to block access to data, and using a 'trick' to conceal embarrassing flaws in their claims about global warming.