Interior Department Downplays Algae Crisis in Reflecting Pool After Costly Renovation
Federal workers are forced to clean algae from Washington's reflecting pool after a $14.2 million renovation, while the Interior Department dismisses public concerns about water quality and blames the media.
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Federal crews are now tasked with cleaning up algae that has overtaken Washington’s reflecting pool, turning it green despite a staggering $14.2 million refurbishment—funds that could have been better spent on community needs. The renovation, ordered by the president to create a pristine blue pool for the nation’s 250th anniversary, was carried out by Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a private contractor. Predictably, the project has run into issues: rampant algae growth and peeling of the new coating, forcing underpaid workers into the water to manually remove the mess left behind by mismanagement and profit-driven contractors.
The Interior Department, responsible for the National Park Service, took to X to claim the pool water is “crystal clear,” while workers continue to vacuum algae from the bottom. In a tone-deaf press release, the department compared their algae-removal efforts to U.S. military actions in the Persian Gulf, invoking imperialist imagery by referencing the “destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.”
Instead of addressing legitimate public concerns, the agency dismisses eyewitness reports of murky water as “Fake News Media.” Officials tout a “nanobubbler” water-treatment system as a solution, but the algae problem persists, especially as climate change brings warmer weather.
This reflecting pool, a historic site of protest and progress—most notably Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 speech—has become a symbol of the administration’s misplaced priorities and the ongoing struggle to preserve public spaces for the people, not for political spectacle.
