Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has set out to combat chronic disease as part of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, says he and two of his grandchildren swam in a creek that is known for sewage contamination.
In an X post, Kennedy said he and his family went on a hike for Mother’s Day in Dumbarton Oaks Park in Washington, D.C. He added that he and his grandchildren took a swim in nearby Rock Creek — a highly contaminated waterway where swimming and even wading are prohibited by the National Park Service due to high levels of bacteria.
Rock Creek is a tributary of the Potomac River, which has dealt with sewage pollution for decades. According to The New York Times:
Rock Creek, which flows through much of Northwest Washington, is used to drain excess sewage and storm water during rainfall. The creek has widespread “fecal” contamination and high levels of bacteria, including E. coli, and the city has banned swimming in all of its waterways for more than 50 years because of the widespread contamination of Rock Creek and other nearby rivers.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.Kennedy has a history of disclosing behavior that raises questions about his personal decisions around health and hygiene.
He has confessed to dumping a dead bear cub in New York City’s Central Park that he said he had initially planned to eat after picking it up as roadkill. He once said in a deposition that a doctor believed a parasitic worm ate part of his brain and then died in his head. And his daughter has said he used a chain saw to cut off the head of a dead whale that washed ashore in Cape Cod and then drove back to New York after tying it to the roof of his minivan.