Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool shows peeling and blotchy coating again after its second repair

The reporters walked the edge of the pool on Nov. 2, right after President Trump spoke there and praised the finish as the strongest coating available. Pale blue streaks broke up the dark blue surface in at least 20 places, concentrated on the southwest side near the Lincoln Memorial, where workers had recently repaired the perimeter expansion joint, The Daily Beast reported, citing the Post. They also saw raised bumps, patch marks and a thin gap with red tape showing underneath.

Two people familiar with the work said the Park Service had known about uneven color in repaired sections a week earlier, the Post reported. An administration spokesperson said the light patches were surplus coating that would fade or be scrubbed off, and blamed the apparent cracks on leftover material and vandalism. The cause of the new defects has not been established.

The first coating job went wrong fast. Crews were still applying coating one day before the basin was refilled on June 4, though the material needed 72 hours to cure, according to a 75-page inspection report the Post obtained. Within days the water turned green with algae and blue flakes floated up. After a later draining, inspectors found 88 more instances of damage and listed an inflexible coating, poor application and too little drying time among possible causes. The caulk around the perimeter also failed because it went underwater before it had cured.

Prosecutors charged four people in July with damaging the liner, then dropped the charges. In a court motion, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro acknowledged that prosecutors would not have indicted one of them, a former Olympic canoeist, had they known contractor errors caused the damage. The pool was drained, repaired and refilled again in October.