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Interior Department employees have raised concerns about the quality and pace of repair work being done by a contractor on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, according to government documents seen by The New York Times.<\/p>\n
Staff members said bubbles and small holes had appeared in one of the layers meant to waterproof the iconic pool. Documents indicate that uneven application of tinted waterproofing left the pool mottled in various shades of blue.<\/p>\n
The documents say both issues were being addressed, but they raise the possibility that the work may not be completed by the government’s May 22 deadline. This would be an ironic turn of events, given that federal bidding laws were deferred because the government argued that there was an urgent need \u2013 to prepare for the country’s 250th anniversary celebrations.<\/p>\n
The Reflecting Pool has suffered from problems with leaks and algae blooms for decades.<\/p>\n
Last month, the Department of the Interior hired out<\/a> Atlantic Industrial Coatings, a Virginia-based firm, is scheduled to repair, refinish and paint the pool. President Trump publicly stated that he recommended the company because of the good work it did on a swimming pool at one of his golf clubs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n However, Mr Trump hit back early on Tuesday, distancing himself from the company. “I didn’t award the contract, ‘Interiors’ awarded it to a contractor I didn’t know and had never used before.” mr trump<\/a> wrote in a post<\/a> On his Truth Social platform.<\/p>\n Asked to explain Mr Trump’s reversal, a White House official said the president had no personal relationship with this contractor, but as a private citizen and builder, he was familiar with the company’s previous work. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the president’s relationship with the company.<\/p>\n The Times is unable to independently confirm whether the company previously worked for any of Mr. Trump’s clubs.<\/p>\n Atlantic Industrial Coatings did not respond to requests for comment this week. Last week, one of the company’s owners, Curtis E. Wood, who is a supporter of AD, said he was not at liberty to discuss the contract.<\/p>\n Interior Department spokeswoman Katie Martin defended the contractor’s work on the reflecting pool project in a statement. He said some parts of the pool may look different temporarily, but only because they were in different stages of repair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe final product will be identical as outlined in the plan,\u201d Ms. Martin said. \u201cAs with any project, there will be modifications to the process to ensure the most efficient equipment is used to reach the end goal.\u201d<\/p>\n According to a public database of federal awards, Atlantic Industrial Coatings had never previously held a federal contract. The firm was awarded the no-bid contract Waterproof and paint the pool<\/a> Last month. The government closed down all other competition for the work using that power, which can only be used in urgent situations when delay would cause “serious injury” to the government.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has not said what the injury might have been, but has said Mr. Trump wanted to move quickly so the work could be completed before the nation’s 250th celebration this summer. The repair work is to be completed by May 22.<\/p>\n Documents seen by the Times \u2014 which have not been previously reported \u2014 cast doubt on that timeline.<\/p>\n