Trump admin will use same company to repair Reflecting Pools damaged liner, Burgum says: Did a fantastic job
WASHINGTON — The same company that originally put the “American flag blue” sealant down on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool will do the repair work, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum revealed.Trump administration officials are planning to drain some of the 6.75 million-gallon basin and repair the damaged liner within the coming days, after shards of sealant peeled off the Reflecting Pool.“We will use the same company because they did a fantastic job,” Burgum told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“Even with this damage of the gash that we’re talking about, you’re talking about, again, this is — the size of eight football fields.It is eight acres, and we’re talking about like .001%.”“The job that was done to fix the Reflecting Pool was done extremely well.”Tthe Trump administration drained the Reflecting Pool in April and spent an estimated $16 million to put a liner on the bottom, repair leaky joints, and install an ozone nanobubbler system intended to combat algae.Shortly after the Reflecting Pool reopened, it was plagued by an algae bloom.
Crews poured in gallons of hydrogen peroxide, a compound used in paint removers, as one of the steps taken to rein in the algae.Then observers began noticing shards of blue sealant peeling off the Reflecting Pool.
Given President Trump’s fixation on fixing up the Reflecting Pool, which has long been plagued by leaks and algae under previous administrations, the debacle turned into a local spectacle.Trump and top Justice Department officials have alleged that vandals are responsible for the sealant coming off, with US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announcing charges last week against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, accusing him of damaging the liner.
Hearn faces up to 10 years behind bars, and his attorney has vowed to fight the charge.The Department of the Interior had tapped the Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings to apply the sealant to the 2,...