The Washington Monument is seen at sunrise from the Tidal Basin. (Oliver Contreras/For The Washington Post)The reopening of the Washington Monument, scheduled for this spring, has been delayed because of the discovery of possibly contaminated underground soil, the National Park Service said Monday. “Due to the necessary mitigation efforts, the reopening of the Washington Monument is now expected to take place in August.”The monument has been closed since August 2016 for the construction of a new visitor screening facility and modernization of the elevator, which takes visitors to the 500-foot observation level. But several years later, officials deposited 250,000 cubic yards of soil to create the knoll that surrounds the monument, Litterst said in an interview. Litterst said the Park Service planned to include special metal sleeves around the wells to prevent leaching of any contamination into the wells.

Source: Washington Post April 15, 2019 15:45 UTC