The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool that President Donald Trump had hastily renovated now has not only an abundance of unsightly algae and peeling paint, but also dead wildlife.
After federal government employees poured gallons of hydrogen peroxide into the pool this week in a bid to stop the growing algae blooms, a dead duckling was spotted floating in the lurid green water on Sunday.
It’s not clear what caused the duck’s death.
The National Parks Service, Department of Interior, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The image of the dead duckling sparked a wave of backlash on social media, with many laying the blame on the hydrogen peroxide used against the algae.
“Ducks aren’t supposed to drink or swim in hydrogen peroxide,” one wrote.
“What did they think would happen pouring 12% hydrogen peroxide into the pool? Never mind,” asked another.
The Interior Department said earlier this week “there are no harmful side effects to marine life or to the environment” from the hydrogen peroxide.
Others pointed out that the algae in the pool may have been toxic to the duck.
A sample of the algae in the pool taken on June 15 was identified as primarily Desmodesmus, which is harmless.
“It is completely harmless. It does not produce any toxins or harm people,” Rosalina Christova, an aquatic ecologist at George Mason University, told WUSA90.
Trump and his allies have blamed all of the pool’s issues on “radical leftists” and saboteurs they claim have been deliberately damaging the site. The “American flag blue” coating that Trump used to resurface the pool is at the center of the ongoing fiasco, as scientists have said the darker color it brought to the bottom of the pool likely increased the water temperature and, in turn, led to excessive algae blooms.
The coating itself has also begun to flake off and peel in some areas before floating up to the surface. While the president has claimed vandals are to blame for ripping off parts of the coating, the real culprit may be the hydrogen peroxide workers are dumping into the water, which can be used to break down and strip paint.
On Sunday, Trump took to Truth Social to declare that work would “immediately” begin to repair the pool. He complained that “SICK, DERANGED PEOPLE” had left it “seriously vandalized.”
