MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Trump says the reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial will be drained again. That's after its waters turned green with algae and pieces of its new coating peeled off in chunks. Trump accused vandals of damaging the pool, but experts point to the recent renovations as the more likely source of the problems. NPR's Rachel Treisman has been spending lots of time at the reflecting pool, seeing all this play out, and she's with us now to tell us what she's been seeing. Rachel, good morning.
RACHEL TREISMAN, BYLINE: Good morning.
MARTIN: It seems like something new is happening with that reflecting pool every day. Where do things stand right now?
TREISMAN: Right. Trump said on social media over the weekend that multiple people have been arrested for vandalizing the pool. Now, remember, the administration just spent more than $14 million to have it painted a darker blue, and it was just refilled earlier this month and then quickly turned green because of algae. On top of that, in the last few days, people noticed chunks of that blue coating drifting to the surface. So Trump says he met with contractors on Saturday, and they will probably have to, quote, "drain much of the water" for repairs.
MARTIN: Let me go back to these allegations about vandalism. There were arrests made. What do we know about that?
TREISMAN: Truly not much. A Trump administration official with knowledge of the situation said that as of Saturday night, five people were arrested for vandalism. That official was not authorized to share details publicly. We also asked the U.S. Park Police and Department of the Interior for specifics but haven't heard back. U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro told Fox News on Sunday that vandals will face consequences.
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JEANINE PIRRO: There are several citations that have been handed out to individuals, and these are cases that will be prosecuted to the full extent.
PIRRO: One of those arrested is David Hearn. He's a Maryland resident and former U.S. Olympian. He was charged on Friday with destroying government property, but Hearn says he didn't do anything wrong. He says he got curious and just reached into the pool to touch one of the blue pieces that was already floating there.
MARTIN: OK. So let's talk about this new coating, this expensive new coating. Why is it already starting to peel?
TREISMAN: That's what I asked Steve Goodale, known online as Swimming Pool Steve. And he says there could be a bunch of contributing factors.
STEVE GOODALE: You have to consider environmental conditions and humidity and dust and contamination from other products that you're using.
TREISMAN: Trump said on Truth Social that vandals had sliced a 250-foot gash in the pool's facade and poured corrosive chemicals in the water. But Goodale says that claim raises more questions than answers because of the strength of the coating that was applied to the pool.
GOODALE: Something that you would have to work pretty hard at, I think, to cause damage to it. If it's securely bonded to the substrate, that stuff is darn near impenetrable.
TREISMAN: Another potential culprit is the hydrogen peroxide that park service workers poured into the pool last week. That was part of their efforts to kill the algae. Goodale says it's possible that those chemicals disrupted the bond layer between the surface and the coating, but it's hard to say without more data.
MARTIN: So if President Trump is saying the pool may have to be drained again, does that mean the algae could return?
TREISMAN: Yeah. According to the experts I talked to, algae has caused problems in the reflecting pool over the years and very likely could again. The pool is, in general, a great environment for algae growth. It's shallow, it's stagnant and it's in direct sunlight. And now that it's been painted an even darker color, it will absorb more sunlight. Goodale is hoping to see precautions, more precautions taken this time around. So for example, flushing the pipes before turning the water back on. And, of course, there's plenty of incentive for this administration to want the pool looking clean and blue as soon as possible, especially with July Fourth less than two weeks away.
MARTIN: That is NPR's Rachel Treisman. Rachel, thank you.
TREISMAN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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