Company owned by Trump donor won $1.7 million no-bid Reflecting Pool cleaning contract

Washington — The federal authorities awarded an organization owned by a Trump donor a $1.7 million contract to put in a brand new water cleaning system for the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, federal data present, as President Trump pushes to overtake the pool — and struggles with a bout of algae and a peeling paint job.

The no-bid contract to put in a “Nano Bubble” filtration system went to Green Water Solutions, an Ohio-based firm whose proprietor is listed on federal contracting documents as “JJ Cafaro Investment Trust.” The president and CEO of that belief is recognized as John J. Cafaro on Federal Election Commission filings.

Cafaro has donated to a number of GOP candidates and conservative causes in recent times. He has donated extensively to Mr. Trump’s marketing campaign and to Trump-linked teams, giving $250,000 to the Trump Victory fundraising committee at one level in 2020. FEC data present he additionally made donations to Democrats at varied factors.

A businessman and real estate developerCafaro pleaded guilty to marketing campaign finance violations in 2010 over donations to his daughter’s congressional marketing campaign. Nearly a decade earlier, I pleaded guilty to conspire to bribe Democratic Rep. James Traficant, and cooperated with prosecutors.

Cafaro and his spouse personal a house in Palm Beach, Florida, lower than a mile from the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

Green Water Solutions is also referred to as Greenwater Services. Inquiries to Cafaro didn’t yield a response, and the corporate referred CBS News to the National Park Service, a division of the Department of the Interior. The New York Times was first to report on Cafaro’s involvement within the Reflecting Pool challenge.

In a press release on Saturday, Greenwater Services stated its patented “NanoBubble Ozone Technology” is an “environmentally conscious, science-based treatment process designed for water remediation in sensitive environments” however provided no particular perception into the issues on the Reflecting Pool.

“This approach is particularly well-suited for natural or public environments because the byproduct is oxygen,” the assertion stated.

On its web site, Green Water Solutions describe Its specialty as purifying water to take away algae, micro organism and different contaminants utilizing a system that injects ozone-infused “nano bubbles” into the water.

Federal contracting data present that the corporate acquired one different authorities contract: a $1 million contract in 2025 for a feasibility research on utilizing its Nano Bubble system to deal with sewage flows within the Tijuana River.

Green Water Solutions additionally appeared to do work on a Trump Organization property. On its LinkedIn web page, the corporate posted photos of water therapy work it carried out on a pond on the president’s golf membership in Bedminster, New Jersey, greater than a 12 months in the past.

Now, Green Water Solutions has been employed to tackle the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, a century-old basin of shallow water that spans greater than 300,000 sq. toes and has struggled with algae blooms for years. Mr. Trump has taken a private curiosity within the Reflecting Pool’s overhaul, discussing the challenge at size, visiting the positioning and handpicking the color of an industrial-grade sealant that was put in on the pool’s stone ground: “American Flag Blue.”

Green Water Solutions was hired in April by the Department of the Interior to put in a Nano Bubble system on the Reflecting Pool, replacing “the existing, failing filtration infrastructure.”

The contract was awarded with out a full aggressive bidding course of. The authorities cited a contracting rule designed for initiatives of “unusual and compelling urgency,” pointing to the necessity to repair the Reflecting Pool in time for the nation’s 250th birthday on July 4. It additionally known as the Nano Bubble system a “highly specialized and niche technology with limited domestic suppliers.”

White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers rebuffed any suggestion of a battle of curiosity.

“This contract was awarded by the Department of the Interior; the White House did not play any role in the selection process,” Rogers stated. CBS News has reached out to the Interior Department for remark.

Cafaro on Friday told The Vindicatora neighborhood newspaper in Youngstown, Ohio, that Mr. Trump “doesn’t know a thing about” his firm’s work with the Reflecting Pool, saying he would “never talk to [the president] about it” as a result of “you don’t do things to put friends in awkward positions.”

Cafaro additionally stated, “I have no idea why this is an issue,” arguing “the system is working” to kill algae, and the general public consideration is pushed by “people who don’t seem to like Trump.”

A separate $14.7 million no-bid contract was given to Virginia-based Atlantic Industrial Coatings to put in sealant on the ground of the Reflecting Pool, federal contracting data present.

In a press release to CBS News dated Sunday, Atlantic Industrial Coatings stated that, together with the Park Service, it “has identified some areas in the Reflecting Pool that require repairs. These areas are a very small part of the massive 7 acre project, and do not indicate a failure of the liner.”

“These repairs can not be made until the pool is drained,” the corporate stated in its assertion. “As soon as it is feasible for the Park, the pool will be drained and AIC will be back to make those needed repairs as part of the warranty.”

Several days in the past, after water was pumped again into the Reflecting Pool, issues began to arise. A sheen of algae appeared within the water earlier this week, and by Thursday, the newly put in pool floor appeared to peel off in not less than one location.

An Interior Department spokesperson stated the algae bloom was brought on by “residual algae” from stagnant water that sat within the pool’s provide strains, calling it “part of the normal startup process.” The division later said on X the Nano Bubble system “very effectively killed the algae.” CBS News has reached out to the division concerning the peeling sealant.

Work crews had been then seen cleaning out algae and pouring hydrogen peroxide into the water. Also noticed in current days: a Nano Bubble system.