Lincoln Reflecting Pool Sparkles After Battle With Invasive Algae

After a long battle that at one point looked lost, President Trump is claiming victory over algae in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, posting photos to Truth Social showing the landmark’s water appearing clear and blue.Mr. Trump on Sunday shared images of the pool reflecting the Washington Monument under blue skies, crediting “advanced nanobubbler technology” and National Park Service cleanup work for the turnaround. He also cited a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the president from the Interior Department’s deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, Greg Wischer, saying that the technology had decisively solved a long-standing problem.“The advanced nanobubbler technology very effectively killed the algae that has plagued every Lincoln Reflecting Pool reopening — most infamously Obama’s reopening — since 1922,” Mr. Wischer wrote. “The Reflecting Pool water is crystal clear, and our National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the dead algae resting on the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting Pool.”Mr. Burgum echoed that assessment during Sunday appearances on both ABC’s “This Week” and CNN’s “State of the Union,” declaring the algae “all gone.”“If you go down there today and look at it, it is completely clean and clear,” Mr. Burgum told CNN. “For the first time, there’s an actual solution that involves making sure that we’ve got an algae-free pond.”The upbeat messaging, however, comes amid mounting scrutiny of a renovation that has cost more than $16 million — $4 million over the original no-bid contract. The project, launched in April as a priority ahead of America’s 250th anniversary, has been beset by problems, including algae blooms shortly after the pool reopened and segments of its “American flag blue” liner appearing to float in the water.Mr. Trump and his administration have blamed vandals for much of the damage, alleging that individuals poured chemicals into the water and cut a 350-foot gash in the industrial liner with a knife or box-cutter. At least seven people have been arrested in connection with the alleged vandalism.“The U.S. Park Police is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the individual in the notice below in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation related to the Reflecting Pool,” Mr. Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social.Among those charged is David Hearn, 67, a former U.S. Olympic canoeist who faces up to 10 years in prison on felony destruction of property charges. Hearn, a resident of the Maryland suburbs outside the nation’s capital, has denied any wrongdoing, saying he merely touched the water before being taken into custody.Mr. Burgum declined to weigh in on the severity of Mr. Hearn’s potential sentence but stood firm on the need to protect federal property. “If people are defaming our monuments, they should face the consequences of that. The courts will decide,” he said.Critics, including House Oversight Committee ranking member Robert Garcia, have been less charitable about the project, with the California congressman calling the pool Mr. Trump’s “latest failed vanity project.” Mr. Burgum pushed back on the sustained media attention, touting the administration’s broader restoration efforts across Washington, D.C. “We restored 48 monuments, 22 fountains, eliminated a thousand graffiti sites. The capital’s looking better than ever,” he said. “I can’t understand why people want to keep talking about the beautiful Reflecting Pool.”

Lincoln Reflecting Pool Sparkles After Battle With Invasive Algae

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