UNDERLYING FLAWS
How problems plagued Reflecting Pool lining project from the start
Workers walk in the drained Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on July 30.
President Donald Trump's motorcade drives on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as it undergoes renovations May 7, with the Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol building in the background, in Washington.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro discusses charges related to vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool during a July 2 news conference in Washington.
A father and child look through fencing surrounding the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Aug. 5 in Washington.
SPOTLIGHT| WASHINGTON
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovation drew renewed controversy after President Donald Trump slammed federal prosecutors' decision to dismiss charges against an Olympian accused of felony vandalism to the pool's lining. Here is a timeline of the project:
March 31: National Park Service signs approvals for installation of a polyurea liner, an option presented by the administration and not previously considered by the park service. American Flag Blue is selected as the color.
April 3: The Department of the Interior gives a no-bid $6.89 million contract to Atlantic Industrial Coatings.
April 6: Temporary fencing cordons off the pool for the project.
April 24: Application of Rhino epoxy primer begins to prep for the application of the American Flag Blue Rhino Pipeliner 5000.
April 28: DOI officials write to preservation officials that interruption of the work could affect "the adhesion of the coating."
May 5: Lining installation begins.
May 7: Installation continues after a rain delay, with cleaning and spraying 68,000 square feet of the pool's surface with Rhino 406 coating. A contractor monitoring Atlantic Industrial Coating's progress notes the project is "significantly behind schedule." Trump's motorcade drives across the empty pool; $6.2 million for supplemental work is added to the contract.
May 11: Cultural Landscape Foundation sues the Trump administration over the project.
May 12: Coating product spraying continues after rain delays.
May 16: A second trial installation of an expansion joint sealant fails.
May 18: Contractor runs out of one of the coatings. Kevin Griess, National Park Service superintendent of National Mall and Memorial Parks, mentions in a landscape foundation lawsuit document that "the administration" presented the concept of using the polyurea liner.
May 20: Coating shipment arrives and spraying continues; a quality control inspector notes "blistering in finished portions of the lining" and alerts the contractor of the need for repairs, according to the motion dismissing charges.
May 21-27: A third test of expansion joint sealing finds it acceptable but rain prevents additional spraying until May 27.
May 29: Sealant begins taking place over expansion joints to fill gaps where the liner was applied.
May 31: The Pipeliner 5000 is installed and the "blistering" remediated.
June 7: Water begins to refill the pool, according to court documents.
June 9: Park Police respond to reported damage to the pool, including a caulk over the foam sealant that was "cut with a sharp knife or razor and destruction of delaminating surface material," according to later testimony by Frank Lands, deputy director for operations for the National Park Service. About 70 fence posts were thrown into the pool.
June 11: A park service engineer sends an email stating the peeled lining area is less than 1 square foot, and a 1-to-2foot strip is vulnerable to peeling. The email notes the contractor says the problem was caused by "overspray" from applying polyurea to a perimeter joint. An engineer says peeling shouldn't affect the liner's strength.
June 14: Algae blooms have turned the water in the pool green and the park service states it will drain the pool after July 4 celebrations.
June 16: Contracting records show the cost of the pool renovation rose to $16 million, including $14.2 million to Atlantic Industrial Coatings and $1.7 million for subcontractor Green Water Solutions.
June 19: U.S. Park Police accuses Olympian canoeist David Hearn of misdemeanor destruction of government property. A Park Police report states Hearn, who was seen at the side of the pool, told an officer he reached in to feel the temperature of the water and grabbed at "a big piece of material flapping in the water." A park service employee on scene says Hearn reached in with both hands and started "to 'violently' rip and tug at a large portion of the blue pool coating." The U.S. Attorney's office says the Interior Department represents "nearly all of the damage to the reflecting pool was due to vandalism with only a small portion due to unidentified other causes." On social media, Trump says there were problems with vandals at the pool.
June 20: Trump posts that "additional people" were arrested in vandalism of the pool.
June 21: Atlantic Industrial Coatings says on its website that some areas in the pool require repairs but "do not indicate a failure of the liner."
June 23: Trump posts that additional people were arrested or cited with vandalism for cutting a gash in the pool.
June 24: Frank Lands, deputy director for operations of the National Park Service, files a declaration with the court in the landscape foundation case.
June 29: Trump posts to social media that the Reflecting Pool "suffered great damage due to the Vandals and Radical Left SCUM that hate our country." He says the pool will be emptied and fixed after July 4.
July 1: U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and senior office officials visit the Reflecting Pool with Interior Department personnel. Water in the pool made it "difficult to observe the condition of the floor of the entire pool," according to the motion dismissing charges. Pirro's office later states Interior personnel showed the attorney's office staff to the area where Hearn was seen, but did not indicate the pool's condition was the result of failures during the liner installation.
July 2: Pirro's office indicts Hearn for "maliciously" damaging the lining material and causing more than $1,000 in damage, based on representations by the Interior Department. Attorneys for Hearn release a statement saying he is innocent and the "charges are outrageous."
July 9: Hearn pleads not guilty.
July 13: Trump posts on social media that the pool was damaged two weeks earlier by vandals, with slashes 300 yards long, and that vandals caused the algae that turned the water green.
July 17: Pirro, her staff and an expert visit the drained pool and see significant damage throughout. They request all documents about the pool lining and its installation. On social media, Trump again attributes the damage to vandals.
July 20: Interior Department staff visit the pool with an engineering contractor who notes coating failures along the perimeter of the pool, possibly the result of applying too much or too little bonding agent, and many areas where the liner was over-sprayed and not bonded. Atlantic Industrial Coatings proposes remediation.
July 31: Pirro's office drops the charges against Hearn and blames the DOI for slowly "trickling" information to prosecutors. "It is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism, let alone to establish that fact beyond a reasonable doubt," the motion states, citing DOI documents. Prosecutors drop similar charges against three others.
Aug. 1: Online, Trump says he disagrees with Pirro: "There may have been some contractor difficulty, but the major damage was caused by VANDALS!"
Aug, 7: In a social media post, Trump says Pirro "should re-visit her hastily made decision" to drop the charges against Hearn.
