Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr on Monday shared photos of himself swimming with his grandchildren in Rock Creek, a waterway in Washington, DC, that has been off-limits for swimming since 1971 due to contamination.
The images, posted on social media on Sunday, show Kennedy fully submerged alongside children, despite federal regulations and public health warnings advising against any contact with the water.
The swim followed a Mother's Day hike through Dumbarton Oaks Park, an area downstream from Piney Branch, which receives an estimated 40 million gallons of untreated sewage and stormwater overflow annually, according to the DC Water and Sewer Authority. A major tunnel project is underway to help curb this pollution, but the creek remains a hazardous zone.
As reported by The New York Times, Rock Creek is routinely used to drain excess sewage and stormwater during rainfall and is widely recognised to have "fecal" contamination and high levels of bacteria, including E. coli. A 2022 microbial tracking report by the DC government confirmed “chronic elevated levels” of E. coli in the creek. Swimming, wading or any contact with the water is banned across all DC waterways, and the National Park Service warns that doing so poses a risk to human and pet health.
“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,” the NPS website says.
The act of entering Rock Creek in this manner appears to violate public health guidance, raising questions about the example set by a sitting health secretary.
This isn’t the first time Kennedy’s affinity for wilderness has drawn scrutiny. As The New York Times also noted, he has previously admitted to collecting a whale carcass, attempting to skin a bear cub struck by a vehicle, and once suffering from a parasitic brain infection linked to pork tapeworms.
The images, posted on social media on Sunday, show Kennedy fully submerged alongside children, despite federal regulations and public health warnings advising against any contact with the water.
Mother’s Day hike in Dumbarton Oaks Park with Amaryllis, Bobby, Kick, and Jackson, and a swim with my grandchildren, Bobcat and Cassius in Rock Creek. pic.twitter.com/TXowaSMTFY
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 11, 2025
The swim followed a Mother's Day hike through Dumbarton Oaks Park, an area downstream from Piney Branch, which receives an estimated 40 million gallons of untreated sewage and stormwater overflow annually, according to the DC Water and Sewer Authority. A major tunnel project is underway to help curb this pollution, but the creek remains a hazardous zone.
As reported by The New York Times, Rock Creek is routinely used to drain excess sewage and stormwater during rainfall and is widely recognised to have "fecal" contamination and high levels of bacteria, including E. coli. A 2022 microbial tracking report by the DC government confirmed “chronic elevated levels” of E. coli in the creek. Swimming, wading or any contact with the water is banned across all DC waterways, and the National Park Service warns that doing so poses a risk to human and pet health.
“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,” the NPS website says.
The act of entering Rock Creek in this manner appears to violate public health guidance, raising questions about the example set by a sitting health secretary.
This isn’t the first time Kennedy’s affinity for wilderness has drawn scrutiny. As The New York Times also noted, he has previously admitted to collecting a whale carcass, attempting to skin a bear cub struck by a vehicle, and once suffering from a parasitic brain infection linked to pork tapeworms.
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