Reflecting Pool saga continues with another contractor hired to clean the algae

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

In a months-long summer saga that does not appear to want to end, the Trump administration has hired yet another new company to help clean and maintain the Lincoln Reflecting Pool — adding more cost and more questions to the renovation project that was meant to be a showcase of the country’s 250th birthday.

The Department of Interior, which is overseeing the renovation project, will pay $2.7 million to American Ag Energy, a Massachusetts-based company that specializes in renewable energy technology, for repairs and maintenance of sewage and water purification systems at the pool, according to details of the government contract and the company’s owner.

The one-year contract, awarded last week, could be extended for five additional years and grow up to $8.8 million.

The Department of Interior did not follow up with CNN on questions about the new contract or how it would fit into the other work that has been done on the Reflecting Pool.

Richard Rosen, the CEO of American Ag Energy, told CNN that he learned about the algae problem from one of the directors of his company and later read a news report about it.

“I realized that I actually knew how to solve this problem,” Rosen said. He added, referring to NPS: “They want me to solve it the right way, okay, and they’re doing a very good job, trying to do the right thing and I will be very helpful to them.”

But the contract award comes with another twist, further adding to the drama around the renovation project.

Last year, Rosen was convicted of voter fraud, for casting ballots twice in the 2016 election — once in Massachusetts and the other time in New Hampshire. The conviction, for which Rosen faced a seven-day jail sentence along with losing his right to vote in New Hampshire, was overturned by the state supreme court earlier this year over what it ruled were incorrect evidentiary rulings by a superior court judge during his trial. Rosen said he’s in mediation with the New Hampshire attorney general’s office over the charges, which can be refiled after the case was remanded back to the Grafton County Superior Court.

CNN has reached out to the New Hampshire attorney general’s office for additional information.

Daniel Heuer/Reuters

Those details are just one part of the drama that has surrounded the renovation of an iconic DC landmark that has greeted tourists since the early 1920s.

A major concern has been the project’s cost, which has escalated over the course of the year.

The president initially estimated renovations to cost around $2 to $3 million but later revised the projection to “less than $20 million.”

As of this summer, with the newest contract factored in, the cost has surpassed $14 million.

Trump vowed to restore the landmark as part of his executive order to make the nation’s capital “safe and beautiful.” However, the renovation project has been plagued with issues from the start.

After the president rode in his motorcade across the drained pool in May to survey the site, the bottom — which had long been gray — was outfitted with a liner the color of “American flag blue .” When it was later refilled, algae turned the pool green.

The administration deployed Greenwater Services, an Ohio-based company whose co-owner, J.J. Cafaro, is a longtime supporter and donor to Trump, to clean up the algae. Cafaro pleaded guilty in 2001 to conspiracy to bribe Rep. James Traficant Jr., an Ohio Democrat. The company’s executives said he is not involved in its day-to-day operations.

Under a $1.7 million contract, Greenwater used ozone nanobubbler technology to clean the reflecting pool water. But the problem remained. To make matters worse, the blue material at the bottom of the pool began peeling shortly after, a setback the president claimed was caused by vandals.

The saga heated up this summer when multiple people were arrested and charged with damaging the pool, an offense that, for most of them, would have meant a $1,000 fine and a maximum of 180 days in prison if found guilty. Olympian canoeist David Hearn, the most prominent of the group, faced as many as 10 years in prison after he was indicted in July for a felony charge of destruction of property. The Justice Department later dropped the criminal case against Hearn, with DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office acknowledging in a court filing that the Department of Interior’s renovation of the pool was “hasty and botched,” a conclusion that prompted Trump to criticize Pirro.

“I don’t know what she was thinking? To me, it was a pure case of VANDALISM,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. A few days later, the charges against the other defendants were also dropped.

With Trump continuing to lay blame on vandals, the task of removing the algae now falls to Rosen’s company.

Rosen told CNN that he and a few members of his team are now in the process of surveying the pool.

“They want me to solve it the right way, okay, and they’re doing a very good job, trying to do the right thing and I will be very helpful to them.”

朱莉娅·德马雷·尼金森/美联社

这场持续数月、似乎永无止境的夏季闹剧，让特朗普政府又雇佣了一家新公司来帮助清洁和维护林肯倒影池——这给原本旨在庆祝美国建国250周年的翻新项目增加了更多成本和更多疑问。

据政府合同细节和公司所有者透露，负责监督翻新工程的内政部将向总部位于马萨诸塞州的美国农业能源公司支付 270 万美元，用于维修和维护游泳池的污水和水净化系统。美国农业能源公司是一家专门从事可再生能源技术的公司。

上周授予的这份为期一年的合同可以再延长五年，最高可达 880 万美元。

内政部没有就新合同或该合同将如何融入已完成的倒影池项目等问题向 CNN 做出回应。

美国农业能源公司首席执行官理查德·罗森告诉 CNN，他从公司的一位董事那里得知了藻类问题，后来又读到了一篇相关的新闻报道。

罗森说：“我意识到我其实知道如何解决这个问题。” 他补充道，指的是NPS：“他们希望我用正确的方法解决这个问题，好的，他们做得很好，努力做正确的事情，我会对他们很有帮助。”

但合同授予却出现了另一个转折，进一步加剧了翻新项目的戏剧性。

去年，罗森因在2016年大选中两次投票——一次在马萨诸塞州，一次在新罕布什尔州——而被判犯有选民欺诈罪。罗森原本面临七天监禁，并被剥夺在新罕布什尔州的投票权。但今年早些时候，新罕布什尔州最高法院推翻了这一判决，理由是高等法院法官在审判过程中作出的证据裁决有误。罗森表示，他正在与新罕布什尔州总检察长办公室就这些指控进行调解，案件发回格拉夫顿县高等法院后，这些指控可能会重新提起。

CNN已联系新罕布什尔州总检察长办公室以获取更多信息。

丹尼尔·休尔/路透社

这些细节只是围绕着华盛顿特区这座标志性建筑的翻新工程而展开的一系列戏剧性事件的一部分，该建筑自 20 世纪 20 年代初以来一直迎接游客。

主要问题在于项目成本，该成本在过去一年中不断攀升。

总统最初估计翻修费用约为 200 万至 300 万美元，但后来将预计费用修改为“不到 2000 万美元”。

截至今年夏天，加上最新合同的费用，总成本已超过 1400 万美元。

特朗普曾誓言要修复这座地标性建筑，这是他旨在使美国首都“安全美丽”的行政命令的一部分。然而，这项翻修工程从一开始就问题重重。

五月份，总统乘车穿过干涸的游泳池视察现场后，池底——原本是灰色的——铺上了一层“美国国旗蓝”的衬里。后来重新注水后，藻类使游泳池变成了绿色。

政府委托总部位于俄亥俄州的绿水服务公司（Greenwater Services）清理藻类。该公司共同所有人JJ·卡法罗是特朗普的长期支持者和捐助者。卡法罗曾于2001年承认串谋贿赂俄亥俄州民主党众议员詹姆斯·特拉菲坎特。该公司高管表示，卡法罗并未参与公司的日常运营。

根据一份价值170万美元的合同，格林沃特公司采用臭氧纳米气泡技术清洁反射池的水。但问题依然存在。更糟糕的是，池底的蓝色材料不久后就开始剥落，总裁声称这是人为破坏造成的。

今年夏天，这起事件愈演愈烈，多人因涉嫌破坏游泳池而被捕并被起诉。对他们中的大多数人来说，如果罪名成立，将面临1000美元的罚款和最高180天的监禁。其中最引人注目的是奥运会皮划艇运动员大卫·赫恩，他于7月被控犯有重罪——破坏财产罪，面临最高10年的监禁。司法部后来撤销了对赫恩的刑事指控。哥伦比亚特区联邦检察官珍妮·皮罗的办公室在一份法庭文件中承认，内政部对游泳池的翻新“仓促且拙劣”，这一结论引发了特朗普对皮罗的批评。

“我不知道她当时是怎么想的？在我看来，这纯粹是故意破坏，”特朗普在Truth Social网站上写道。几天后，对其他被告的指控也被撤销了。

由于特朗普继续将责任归咎于破坏者，清除藻类的任务现在落到了罗森的公司身上。

罗森告诉 CNN，他和他的几个团队成员目前正在对游泳池进行勘测。

“他们希望我用正确的方式解决这个问题，好的，他们做得很好，努力做正确的事情，我会尽力帮助他们。”