It’s a battle of spin and sludge. And are you going to believe the Interior Department or your interior judgement?
According to Donald Trump’s government, the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool is a “crystal clear” basin of water. “The nanobubbler technology and vacuuming have been incredibly effective, making the water crystal clear with the American Flag Blue coating shining brightly on the bottom of the pool,” the Department posted on social media this week.
But on Thursday afternoon, a week into the ruckus over an algae bloom that began choking the pool soon after its renovation, the water was lagoon-green. Crews in waders used pool nets to scoop muck out of the two-tone pool, parts of which had become less green after workers poured bleach into the pool. Loud, whirring motors pumped the sickening-looking water into the storm drains.
And now, in addition to algae, sheets and ribbons of blue paint floated in the water or could be seen sloughing off as crews cleaned. Some pieces were left in the grass.
As Trump predicted, the renovation has brought crowds to the National Mall. But maybe not the ones he hoped.
Trump foes were out in force, drawn by massive media coverage of the renovation, which was completed after the administration awarded a no-bid contract to paint the basin, outraging critics.
The naysayers on hand included Rob Dale, a tourist from Colorado, who called the scene “a huge waste of resources.”
“Your tax dollars are literally going down the drain,” he said, motioning to the hose belching green water into the storm drain. He added: “I want my money back.”
The Interior Department’s press office noted this week that “the Reflecting Pool is now so ‘blue’ that the Fake News Media, which has been staked out at the Reflecting Pool for weeks, has fled!”
But on Thursday, Dale said he was interviewed by Reuters. There were plenty of other media filing reports from the pool throughout the day, including reporters from ABC, The Atlantic, and CBS. As Dale spoke, a cameraman with a CNN badge shot video. The fate of a DC monument had turned into a national symbol.
The renovation finished just over a week ago. Experts have said that it is common for algal blooms to strike after this kind of work, especially with the warm temperatures that have hit the District.
Yet even with all the remediation work, the water remained more chartreuse than “crystal clear.” And the only reflection occurring at the pool Thursday afternoon was from onlookers wondering how they would caption their blurry photos with metaphors about how this scene represents the state of the nation.
None of this stopped others from presenting a different reality. In another post, the Interior Department added that the “water is crystal clear, and our National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting Pool—just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.”
The Interior Department posted on X early Thursday that “the advanced nanobubbler technology very effectively killed the algae that has plagued every Lincoln Reflecting Pool reopening.” City Cast DC saw isolated pools of bubbling in the Reflecting Pool occurring but can not confirm if they were, indeed, nanobubbles.
