Trump Orders Repairs to 4 Million-Gallon Lincoln Pool as Dead Ducks Deepen July 4 Headache
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 23
Trump Orders Repairs to 4 Million-Gallon Lincoln Pool as Dead Ducks Deepen July 4 Headache
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 23
Summary
Trump said the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool will need partial draining for repairs after more dead ducks were found and sections of its liner peeled.
The trouble followed a cost-cutting renovation that added an “American Flag Blue” commercial liner to the roughly 4 million-gallon pool; after refilling, algae quickly spread and crews treated the water with peroxide and ozone.
Rhino Linings executive Francois Rivard said investigators still do not know whether vandalism or the pool’s water chemistry caused the liner failure, contradicting Trump’s claim that vandals were to blame.
Wildlife experts said hydrogen peroxide at algae-control levels is an unlikely cause of the duck deaths, though toxic algae or birds ingesting liner material cannot be ruled out without testing.
The malfunction has turned a planned July 4 centerpiece for Trump’s 250th-anniversary celebrations—including more than 800,000 fireworks—into a public and legal headache, even as experts say a Migratory Bird Treaty Act violation appears unlikely.