Kennedy bathed in a sewage stream with his grandchildren – photo
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. has posted family photos of himself and his grandchildren taking a dip in Rock Creek in Washington state, a stream that is banned from swimming due to years of sewage discharge, The New York Times reports .
In a social media post , the health minister said he went swimming in Rock Creek during a family walk on Mother's Day in Dumbarton Oaks Park.
As the publication notes, Rock Creek flows through a large part of northwestern Washington and is used to carry excess sewage and stormwater during rains.
Due to severe pollution, swimming in Rock Creek and other nearby rivers has been prohibited for over 50 years.
"Rock Creek has high levels of bacteria and other infectious pathogens, making swimming, wading, and other contact with the water hazardous to the health of people and pets," the National Park Service warned on its website.
Dumbarton Oaks Park is located downstream from Piney Branch, a tributary of Rock Creek, which receives about 1.5 million liters of untreated sewage each year, according to the District of Columbia Water and Sewerage Authority.
The city plans to build a tunnel that will reduce the amount of wastewater entering Piney Branch and Rock Creek.
Kennedy did not respond to the publication's request for comment.
- On November 15, 2024, it was announced that Trump had nominated Kennedy Jr. to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
- On December 10, dozens of Nobel Prize laureates urged the Senate not to approve the nomination for the position of Minister of Health.
- On February 13, the US Senate finally confirmed anti-vaccine Robert Kennedy Jr. as the country's Secretary of Health.
- On March 27, it became known that a new outbreak of measles was recorded in Texas, accompanied by complications caused by the use of so-called "alternative therapies." This approach is actively supported by opponents of vaccination, including Robert Kennedy Jr.