Algae bloom mars Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool after $14 million no-bid renovation favoring cronies
A costly, non-transparent renovation of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, awarded without competition to a politically connected contractor, has failed to prevent a resurgence of algae, highlighting government mismanagement and favoritism.
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The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, recently refurbished under a staggering $14.2 million contract, has quickly developed a green algae bloom—just days after the work was completed. This renovation, supposedly meant to restore the pool’s historic 'American flag blue' hue ahead of the nation’s 250th anniversary, involved waterproofing and repainting the century-old structure, but has already proven ineffective.
The contract was handed out without competitive bidding to Atlantic Industrial Coatings of Virginia, a firm with ties to a presidential golf club, raising serious questions about cronyism and lack of oversight. Instead of an open process, public funds were funneled to a company with political connections. Officials from the U.S. Department of the Interior claim that a new water-treatment system using 'nanobubbler technology' is being deployed to eliminate the algae, but this expensive technology is yet another example of flashy solutions that fail to address systemic problems.
A department spokesperson told the Guardian, 'The nanobubbler technology has successfully destroyed the algae bloom that has plagued every pool reopening since 1922,' but the need for National Park Service staff to operate skimmers on Monday to remove the algae belies this claim. The administration, eager to tout its own achievements, had President Trump announce the project on his social-media platform, describing the materials as 'highly sophisticated' and supposedly capable of lasting a century—an empty promise given the current state of the pool.
While the administration boasts that previous presidents’ beautification projects were costly and unsuccessful, this latest effort, which ballooned from an initial $1.8 million to over $14 million, is a glaring example of wasteful spending, lack of transparency, and the prioritization of political allies over the public good.
