President Donald Trump’s controversial $14 million overhaul of the White House’s reflecting pool has hit another setback, as officials battle a record outbreak of algae.
A Washington Post analysis found that the reflecting pool now contains more algae than at any point recorded in June over the past five years.
The study also noted algae levels were among the highest seen in any month over the last two years.
Trump said the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which was renovated at a cost of around $13.1 million ahead of the 250th anniversary celebrations, would be refilled and repainted a shade of “American Flag Blue,” and pledged to overhaul what he described as the “filthy” and “disgusting” water in the Reflecting Pool.
After the pool was refilled on June 4, he hailed its “clean, beautiful water.”
But the pool started to turn green with algae less than 24 hours after the renovations were completed earlier this month.
Experts say the spike in algae is consistent with seasonal conditions, as hot, sunny weather in the Washington area creates an ideal environment for algae growth.
“We would expect June to have more algae naturally than February, March or April because there is more light availability and higher temperatures,” Alana Menendez, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Sciences, told the Washington Post.
The D.C. region experienced a heat wave as the pool was being refilled earlier this month.
Trump administration officials, however, blamed the problem on residual material left in supply lines that had reportedly been dormant for weeks.
The Interior Department has also linked the issue to an Obama-era renovation, saying the more than $30 million 2012 overhaul “resulted in massive algae clumps taking over the pool’s surface following years of construction that cost taxpayers millions upon millions only to be broken and disgusting days later.”
But critics questioned whether recent changes may be contributing to the problem.
One National Parks Conservation Association official suggested the darker paint color could be raising water temperatures and worsening algae growth, telling the Post: “These are all questions that would normally be answered during that review process that just was not done in this case.”
Elsewhere, a resident of Alexandria, Virginia, told The Daily Beast the reflecting pool is “a mess” and said they have “never seen it this green before.”
“I think it’s a waste of our tax dollars,” said James, who declined to give his surname and has lived in the D.C. area for decades.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
