WASHINGTON — A senior National Park Service official says the liner along the floor of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was sliced with a sharp knife or razor blade this month, causing damage to foam sealant that was put in place as part of a $16 million renovation project.
Frank Lands, the park service’s deputy director of operations, disclosed the information in a court document filed late Wednesday. The agency reported the June 9 incident to U.S. Park Police, Lands said. His statement came as part of an ongoing lawsuit brought by a nonprofit group trying to stop the Trump administration’s work on the pool.
Lands did not indicate in his statement whether the damage is being treated as vandalism or name anyone suspected of being involved.
According to the police report cited by Lands, the damage to the pool included “a caulk over the foam sealant that was cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material.” He also said roughly 70 fence post tops had been tossed into the pool.
This marked the first time the administration provided specific details about when and how the Reflecting Pool may have been damaged after the bulk of the renovation work was finished.
President Donald Trump and other administration officials have repeatedly blamed unidentified vandals — without offering evidence — for peeling paint, a “350-foot gash” in the liner, and other issues. Trump said this week that six people have been arrested, though he did not provide further details.
Trump had promised to restore the century-old Reflecting Pool ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday celebrations, ordering it drained and its floor painted in a color he described as “American flag blue.” Since the pool was refilled, however, it has been dealing with an algae bloom and visible peeling of the new coating on the bottom.
The administration is working against a self-imposed deadline to finish the renovation before the Fourth of July. Trump also said the federal government would release images to back up his claims about vandalism.
On Wednesday, Trump said “sick people” had used razors and box cutters to slice parts of the liner.
That same evening, U.S. Park Police posted surveillance video and asked the public for help “identifying the individual depicted here in connection with a Destruction of Government Property investigation.” The grainy, 30-second clip appears to show a person crouching down, reaching into the reflecting pool, and pulling something out of the water. Police said the footage was recorded Friday afternoon.
In his court statement, Lands said the park service intends to begin draining the Reflecting Pool after Independence Day celebrations in order to carry out repairs, including evaluating and fixing any damage to the liner.
The park service wrapped up more than two months of renovation work at the Reflecting Pool in early June. The 2,000-foot-long basin was drained and a plastic-like rubber liner was installed to waterproof and protect the concrete surface before the pool was refilled, Lands said.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, an education and advocacy nonprofit that filed suit in May to halt the project, has asked a federal judge to block any additional renovation work.
“It is also not too late to correct course,” the group wrote in a Monday filing, urging the administration to “engage with experts and the public, and make an informed decision about what is best based on the consultations mandated by the law, instead of once again rushing ahead with half-baked ideas.”
Congressional Democrats have called for formal investigations into the pool renovations, arguing that no-bid contracts were handed to vendors with prior ties to Trump.
Ohio-based Green Water Solutions received a $1.7 million contract to install a water-purification system in the pool, while Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings was awarded $14.7 million to repaint and waterproof the pool’s concrete floor.
Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the leading Democrat on the Senate appropriations subcommittee that oversees the Interior Department’s budget, said the pool project looks like a squandering of public money.
“After railing about waste, fraud and abuse, Donald Trump spent more than $16 million on a renovation of the Reflecting Pool that’s now peeling and chock full of algae,” Merkley said Thursday, calling it a “massive waste” of tax dollars and saying the public deserves “swift answers — and a refund.”
Merkley is among roughly 10 Democratic senators and House members looking into the pool project.
“Taxpayers deserve a full explanation of how these failures occurred and who will be held accountable for correcting them,” stated another letter signed by New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich and five fellow senators. Heinrich serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which has oversight of the Interior Department.
