Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to “Make America Healthy Again” and has championed the removal of harmful toxins and additives from our nation’s food supply.
So why in the world was RFK, Jr. gloating about swimming in D.C.-area creek that’s known for harboring infectious bacteria and even fecal matter?
Yes, RFK, Jr. took a head-scratching plunge into the waters of Washington, DC’s notoriously contaminated Rock Creek — where swimming is banned because of high levels of fecal bacteria.
“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,” RFK Jr. wrote in an X post on Sunday.
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 post included photographs of the shirtless HHS secretary completely submerged in the creek’s polluted waters.
RFK Jr. posts photos swimming in polluted Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. https://t.co/GrhPsLzvB0
— KVUE News (@KVUE) May 13, 2025
While the National Park Service warns that while the water in Rock Creek may look clean, cool and inviting, bacteria such as “fecal coliform, Giardia, and other potential waterborne illnesses” may be present in the local creek.
The move from RFK, Jr. is bizarre considering the NPS notes that because of the “high levels of bacteria and other infectious pathogens,” swimming and wading are not allowed in the creek, according to the New York Post.
“Chemicals flow into streams and into the creek from surrounding communities through storm drains and rainfall,” according to NPS. “These contaminants, among others, can make your family members, your furry four-legged friends, and you sick.”
The NPS has openly re-posted an advisory in 2022 saying that swimming and wading are not allowed in Rock Creek because of contaminants in the water.
“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 advisory says.
“Please protect yourself and your pooches by staying on trails and out of the creek.”
The NPS said all waterways in the city are covered by this swimming ban, which has been in place since 1971 due to DC’s aging sewer system that can be overwhelmed by rainstorms, which can cause untreated waste to run off into Rock Creek.
NPS said roughly 40 million gallons of sewage and stormwater flow from Piney Branch into Rock Creek during heavy rains each year.
The bacteria travels from Rock Creek down into the Potomac River and even the Chesapeake Bay.
The move from RFK, Jr. has drawn the ire of local ecological experts who said it was not only illegal, but also very dangerous.
“The reason it’s illegal is because of the… e-coli issues from their combined sewer systems. And that’s why they banned swimming in the D.C. area,” said Potomac Riverkeeper Dean Naujoks.
The Potomac Riverkeeper Network does monitor conditions in Rock Creek and 30 other locations.
Every Wednesday, they collect data and post the results on Thursday evening on the app Swim Guide, telling the public if a particular body of water is safe for human contact.
“I just wish the secretary had gone to that app and found out the conditions,” Naujoks said.
“But Rock Creek in general, over the past five years, has consistently failed to meet water quality standards for safe human contact.”
Naujoks said bacteria levels are particularly bad after it rains, as it did last Thursday prior to RFK, Jr’s swim.
“Bacteria levels, I mean, cause all sorts of problems for public health and particularly the kids being in the water,” Naujoks said.