The Trump administration has labeled the algae cleanup operation in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool a “regional and national priority” in an email to staff, urging them to work overtime to scrub the monument in time for July 4 celebrations, according to a report.
President Donald Trump’s $14 million pet project to resurface the 2,000-foot pool, which was supposed to make the water appear an “American flag blue,” has turned green after becoming infested with algae just days after completion.
National Park Service employees received an email, obtained by MeidasTouch, urging them to support “critical pre-July 4th operational needs” at the Reflecting Pool, according to the outlet.
Crews are required to help with “scrubbing and pump out operations” at the Washington, D.C. landmark and are being asked to work 12-hour shifts beginning this week in a bid to rid the pool of algae, the outlet reports.
The Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, confirmed that the Trump administration was calling in reinforcements for the cleanup in a statement to The Independent.
“Unlike the Obama and Biden administrations that shamefully chose to let our national treasures descend into filth and disrepair, the Trump administration is marshaling in the necessary resources to ensure the capital city of the most powerful country in the world is absolutely stunning in honor of our historic 250th celebrations,” a spokesperson said. “It is beyond comprehension why anyone would be upset that President Trump is making D.C. Safe and Beautiful Again.”
In a previous statement, a spokesperson told The Independent that the department is deploying nanobubble ozone technology to blitz the algae.
“This technology is actively killing algae, pathogens (e.g., E. coli), and contaminants that have long plagued the Reflecting Pool since 1922, most infamously, the Obama pool reopening that resulted in massive algae clumps taking over the pool’s surface following years of construction that cost,” the spokesperson said.
While algae has been a persistent problem in the Reflecting Pool, the current levels have reached the highest in years, according to The Washington Post. In fact, days after Trump’s renovation was completed, the pool had more algae in it than at any point in the month of June for at least five years, according to the newspaper, which requested specialized analysis of satellite data from experts.
Alana Menendez, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Sciences, analyzed satellite data which detected more algae in the pool in an image taken a week after it reopened “than in any June images going back to 2021.”
The researcher analysed data from a European satellite that captures images of the Reflecting Pool several times a month. The images can be used to determine an estimate of the presence of chlorophyll, the green pigment found in algae, in the water.
The level of algae from the data was among the highest measured in any month in the past two years, the analysis found.
Menendez told the newspaper that it was not unusual for higher levels of algae to exist in the months of June due to more sunlight and higher temperatures than in the winter months.
The White House touted the nanobubble technology to “keep the Reflecting Pool crystal clear” in a statement to the newspaper. “Thanks to President Trump, new lining and industrial grade materials will permanently seal the Reflecting Pool, which previously leaked 16 million gallons per year and wasted countless taxpayer dollars,” spokesman Taylor Rogers said.
This week, workers outfitted in neon vests were seen dumping hydrogen peroxide into the pool. Photos showed crews unloading numerous large boxes — apparently filled with the cleaning solution — at multiple points along the pool’s perimeter.
The Interior Department said the chemical was a “milder treatment than chlorine,” which has “no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment.”
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