Reflecting Pool Has a New Problem

First the algae, and now peeling paint: Washington's Reflecting Pool makeover is not going well, reports WTOP. Just weeks after workers finished coating the basin in "American Flag Blue" paint at the direction of President Trump and refilling it, a section of the paint began lifting off the bottom on Thursday, forming a 2- to 3-foot peeling patch along the south side. The $14 million renovation has also failed to keep the usual summer algae at bay; roughly two-thirds of the pool remains green despite scrubbing, nanobubble ozone treatments, and hydrogen peroxide being poured into the water. Given the cost of the project, "you'd like to see quality work being done," said visitor Derek Amspaugh, while another onlooker called the peeling paint "a bit of a metaphor" for the administration's broader projects.

Shown images of the peeling paint by CNN, Atlantic Industrial Coatings owner Eddie Wood, who was hired to do the renovation, said they don't give enough context "to tell exactly what that is." Further, "there's several things that we've got to address when we come back for maintenance, and anything like that will be addressed if it's a problem," Wood said.