The National Park Service<\/a> in April sidestepped the usual competitive bidding process, awarding a $1.7 million cleaning contract to Ohio-based Greenwater Services, which had only ever been given one other federal contract.<\/p>\n The firm is owned by the J.J. Cafaro Investment Trust, headed by John J. Cafaro, who has contributed over $300,000 to Trump-linked political committees, The New York Times<\/a> reported. He also resides next to the president\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort<\/a> in Florida. In 2016, Trump described Cafaro, who once found himself at the center of a bribery scandal, as a \u201cfantastic man.\u201d<\/p>\n The $1.7 million contract with Greenwater to improve the pool filtration system is drawing new scrutiny after the roughly 2,000-foot Reflecting Pool turned a vivid green as algae blooms spread across its shallow waters \u2014 just days after a $14 million refurbishment left the basin coated in \u201cAmerican flag blue<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Department officials told the Times that Greenwater Services had already installed a temporary purification system and plans to put a permanent one in place shortly. A spokesperson didn\u2019t explain why the pool had been refilled before the permanent system was up and running.<\/p>\n The pool\u2019s water flows through underground pipes to a nearby building fitted with filtration and purification equipment. The Park Service had long planned to enhance the system with a \u201cnanobubble\u201d device that pulverizes algae using tiny gas bubbles.<\/p>\n \u201cThis technology is actively killing algae, pathogens (e.g., E. coli), and contaminants that have long plagued the Reflecting Pool since 1922, most infamously, the Obama pool reopening that resulted in massive algae clumps taking over the pool\u2019s surface following years of construction that cost taxpayers millions upon millions only to be broken and disgusting days later,\u201d an Interior Department spokesperson told The Independent earlier this week.<\/p>\n The National Park Service, which operates under the Interior Department, said it bypassed competition under an emergency exemption, arguing there was no time to solicit other bids because the purification system had to be installed before the nation\u2019s 250th anniversary<\/a> next month.<\/p>\n The Interior Department also said it had no knowledge of Cafaro\u2019s political affiliation, with a spokesperson telling the Times: \u201cThis company was selected because they had the expertise, work force and materials.\u201d<\/p>\n The Independent has reached out to the Interior Department for comment.<\/p>\n This week, workers were seen vacuuming out algae and dumping hydrogen peroxide into the water<\/a> in an attempt to fix the problem. The administration has labeled the cleanup job a \u201cregional and national priority<\/a>\u201d ahead of July 4.<\/p>\n The administration has previously bypassed the usual competitive bidding process in its effort to beautify the city. Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the firm that resurfaced the pool, was similarly awarded a no-bid contract.<\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2281919312.jpeg\")
This spring, a Trump-linked company won a no-bid contract to clean the Reflecting Pool. Now, the deal is coming under scrutiny after algae overtook the basin, according to a new report (Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781897834_231_download...jpeg\")
An aerial view of the 2,000-foot pool shows its waters have turned bright green (AP)![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2026-06-16T155418Z_563830109_RC2ZULA0DMV7_RTRMADP_3_USA-250-REFLECTING-POOL.JPG\")
This week, workers were seen dumping hydrogen peroxide into the Reflecting Pool and wading into the water to sccop up algae blooms (Reuters)<\/p>\n