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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the man leading America’s health policy, just took a dip in one of D.C.’s most bacteria-infested waterways.
The 71-year-old health secretary shared photos of the swim on social media on Sunday, taken during a Mother’s Day hike in Dumbarton Oaks Park.
One photo showed him fully submerged underwater.
Rock Creek is a Washington, D.C., waterway long known to be unsafe due to high bacteria levels and sewage contamination.
- Health Secretary RFK Jr. swam with his grandchildren in Rock Creek, a D.C. waterway known for dangerously high levels of bacteria and sewage contamination.
- Swimming or wading in Rock Creek is banned by the National Park Service due to frequent sewage overflow and fecal contamination.
- RFK Jr. has a history of controversial public behavior and health claims, including opposing vaccines and promoting raw milk.
Kennedy said the swim was part of a hike with family members, naming his grandchildren Bobcat and Cassius in the post.
RFK Jr. posted pictures of himself and his grandkids swimming in bacteria-infested Rock Creek
Image credits: Robert F. Kennedy Jr/ X
The National Park Service has made it clear that swimming or even wading in Rock Creek is banned. The creek is used to drain excess sewage and stormwater during rainfall.
Because of this, it often contains “fecal” contamination and high levels of bacteria, including E. coli, which is known to cause serious hemorrhagic diarrhea with possibly fatal complications.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year in the U.S., waterborne pathogens cause an estimated 7.15 million illnesses, 118,000 hospitalizations, and 6,630 deaths.
Kennedy’s post itself is accompanied by a community note, warning: “Swimming in Rock Creek is dangerous and prohibited by the National Park Service, as the creek contains dangerously high bacteria levels.”
The creek is used to drain excess sewage and is known for high levels of bacteria
Image credits: RobertKennedyJr
Rock Creek, which runs through northwest D.C., receives about 40 million gallons of sewage overflow annually.
The city has banned swimming in all of its waterways for more than 50 years, given these contamination numbers.
D.C. is working on a tunnel project to reduce sewage overflow into the creek, but until then, the contamination risk remains high.
Rock Creek Conservatory warns about this in an advisory post on its website: “Rock Creek has high levels of bacteria and other infectious pathogens that make swimming, wading, and other contact with the water a hazard to human (and pet) health.”
Kennedy’s office has not responded to requests for comment.
This isn’t the first time RFK Jr. has shocked the public with unusual behavior. In a past incident, he reportedly sawed off a dead whale’s head and drove home with it strapped to his car’s roof.
There’s also the time he picked up a dead bear and dumped its carcass in Central Park.
In 2012, Kennedy feared he had a brain tumor, which he later recounted “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died,” The New York Times quoted him as saying.
Around the same time, he was also diagnosed with mercury poisoning—likely from eating fish.
In the 2012 deposition, Kennedy also discussed his cognitive problems, including short- and long-term memory loss. However, in a recent interview with The Times, he said he no longer suffers from these problems.
Kennedy has often become the subject of controversy for his unconventional actions and healthcare claims
Image credits: The White House/ Flickr
While Kennedy promotes the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda and refers to himself and his team as “renegades” in health policy, critics say his actions contradict public health advice.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, he strongly opposed the vaccine, so much so that he was banned from Instagram in February 2021 for spreading vaccine misinformation.
A Center for Countering Digital Hate study found him to be among the top 12 spreaders of online anti-vaccine content.
His controversial ideas also include advising Trump against water fluoridation in water, calling it a “toxic pollutant” and “industrial waste,” and aiming to boost access to unpasteurized, raw milk.
Kennedy has been praised for his environmental efforts, but criticized for his health views 
Image credits: The White House/ Flickr
Yet, Kennedy’s environmental work has earned him recognition.
Kennedy co-founded the Waterkeeper Alliance and served as its president for 21 years. One of the world’s largest nonprofits focused on clean water, the alliance has over 1 million volunteers and branches in 40 countries.
Kennedy has positioned himself alongside communities fighting pollution and corporate environmental harm throughout his career as an attorney for the environmental nonprofit.
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