Trump once suggested his Reflecting Pool renovations would last a century. It's now being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint | Fortune

TL;DR

• 1

  Trump's Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation is being drained again after an algae bloom and peeling paint, just weeks after he claimed the project would last a century and be ready by July 4 for the nation's 250th birthday.

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  Trump blamed the peeling on vandals, but critics say it's from shoddy repair work, and at least four people have been charged with misdemeanors for allegedly removing paint, including three-time Olympic canoeist David Hearn who pleaded not guilty.

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  Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the new draining was planned and blamed debris from the July 4 fireworks display, telling a conservative podcast the plan is to "drain the water, clean up the fireworks stuff, repair the vandalism, fill it back up again."

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  The administration awarded $16.4 million in contracts without competitive bidding for the pool work: $1.7 million to Ohio-based Green Water Solutions for a water-purification system and $14.7 million to Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings to repaint and waterproof the concrete floor.

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  Democratic lawmakers are investigating the project's total taxpayer cost, and Burgum said the administration will use the same companies for the new round of repairs because "they did a fantastic job."