Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted a photo of himself and his grandson swimming in contaminated Washington Creek on Sunday.
Rock Creek, which flows through most of northwest Washington, is used to drain excess sewage and rainwater during rainfall. The stream has extensive “fecal” contamination and high levels of bacteria, including E. coli, and the city has been swimming in all waterways for over 50 years due to extensive contamination of Rock Creek and other nearby rivers.
“Rock Creek has high levels of bacteria and other infectious pathogens that make swimming, swimming and other water contact dangerous to the health of humans (and pets),” the National Park Service wrote in its website advisory.
But over the weekend, Kennedy shared a photo of himself swimming in Rock Creek. Kennedy said in a social media post he went for a swim in Rock Creek during a Mother's Day hike at Dumbarton Oaks Park with his family.
According to the DC Water and Sewer Authority, Dumbarton Oaks Park is downstream from the Piney branch, a tributary of Rock Creek that receives approximately 40 million gallons of untreated sewage and stormwater overflow each year. City officials are planning to build tunnels that will reduce the amount of sewage flowing through Piney Branch and Rock Creek.
A Kennedy spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
This was the latest in a series of singular cases related to Mr. Kennedy's outdoor man persona.
As a teenager in the 1970s, Kennedy gained a reputation as a reckless adventurer, ate bush meat and enduring illnesses on trips to safaris in South America and Africa. He later gained notoriety for his handling of dead animals, including whales and baby bears.
Kennedy also says that the parasite “entered my brain and died eating some of it.”
