RFK Jr Takes Family Swimming in Contaminated River

iluvatar5150 · May 12, 2025

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/us/politics/rfk-jr-rock-creek-bacteria.html?unlocked_article_code=1.G08.qPCh.y4qtl3PA6XAp&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, posted photos on Sunday of himself and his grandchildren swimming in a contaminated Washington creek where swimming is not allowed because it is used for sewer runoff.

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.

Pommer · May 13, 2025

iluvatar5150 said:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/us/politics/rfk-jr-rock-creek-bacteria.html?unlocked_article_code=1.G08.qPCh.y4qtl3PA6XAp&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, posted photos on Sunday of himself and his grandchildren swimming in a contaminated Washington creek where swimming is not allowed because it is used for sewer runoff.

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.

There’s always going to be a certain person who subscribes to Nietzsche’s maxim “whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”; we all (everyday) get to decide (free will) what activities are “bad for us” and which are probably less than optimal but not really that “dangerous”.

I really hate rollercoasters.
I have better ways to get my adrenal glands to activate than torturing my body with sudden, involuntary, gyrations and get my brain to accuse me of trying to “kill us both!” (It’s okay, I’m in therapy.)

But when younger family members needed an “adult” to show them the “fun” that rollercoasters can provide, I stepped up and done my part.

Watching another person “use their freedom ‘wrong!’” is a prerequisite to many political discussions.

While I think that this is a silly thing to do (swimming in possibly contaminated water), it can’t really be used to prove anything other than he was somehow ignorant that Rock Creek has been deemed unfit for human bathing for 50 years. He’s an “outsider”, the last time he was in Rock Creek was in 1962, and he wanted to waltz down memory lane.

Perfecktly understandable.

Nithavela · May 13, 2025

What a wonderful idea.

I suggest to make it mandatory for government employees to take a yearly family dip in the most polluted stretch of water in their area of responsibility.

7thKeeper · May 13, 2025

Nithavela said:
What a wonderful idea.

I suggest to make it mandatory for government employees to take a yearly family dip in the most polluted stretch of water in their area of responsibility.

Well in the UK, sometime after they left the EU, they'd loosened up some environmental standards on what you can do with waste. So one industrial business had began dumping it's waste in a river because that was now allowed. Problem was, that river happened to be part of a triathlon and contestants swam through it. And got very sick.

Fifty-seven swimmers fall sick and get diarrhoea at world triathlon championship in Sunderland

Athletes competing on stretch of UK coastline where reduced water quality at centre of dispute over sewage discharges

www.theguardian.com

Nithavela · May 13, 2025

7thKeeper said:
Well in the UK, sometime after they left the EU, they'd loosened up some environmental standards on what you can do with waste. So one industrial business had began dumping it's waste in a river because that was now allowed. Problem was, that river happened to be part of a triathlon and contestants swam through it. And got very sick.

Fifty-seven swimmers fall sick and get diarrhoea at world triathlon championship in Sunderland

Athletes competing on stretch of UK coastline where reduced water quality at centre of dispute over sewage discharges

www.theguardian.com

If it's fit for fish to breathe, it's fit for humans to drink, I say.

wing2000 · May 13, 2025

iluvatar5150 said:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/us/politics/rfk-jr-rock-creek-bacteria.html?unlocked_article_code=1.G08.qPCh.y4qtl3PA6XAp&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, posted photos on Sunday of himself and his grandchildren swimming in a contaminated Washington creek where swimming is not allowed because it is used for sewer runoff.

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.

Oh, he's just strengthening his grandkid's immune system.

Laodicean60 · May 13, 2025

iluvatar5150 said:
Washington creek where swimming is not allowed because it is used for sewer runoff.

Yuck, don't we have laws to prevent allowing the runoff?

FireDragon76 · May 13, 2025

iluvatar5150 said:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/us/politics/rfk-jr-rock-creek-bacteria.html?unlocked_article_code=1.G08.qPCh.y4qtl3PA6XAp&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, posted photos on Sunday of himself and his grandchildren swimming in a contaminated Washington creek where swimming is not allowed because it is used for sewer runoff.

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.

A little extra Vitamin A and he'll be fine, I am sure...

durangodawood · May 13, 2025

Someone should have told him its contaminated with vaccines.

DaisyDay · May 13, 2025

Nithavela said:
What a wonderful idea.

I suggest to make it mandatory for government employees to take a yearly family dip in the most polluted stretch of water in their area of responsibility.

Could we limit the mandate to political appointees only?

Nithavela · May 13, 2025

DaisyDay said:
Could we limit the mandate to political appointees only?

Why limit the health benefits so?

The IbanezerScrooge · May 13, 2025

If RFK Jr. wants to his grandkids to swim in sewer water, that's his business I guess,

but if the water was officially labelled as contaminated and unfit for swimming shouldn't that have been posted, in which case, RFK Jr. would have been breaking the law?

Larniavc · May 13, 2025

iluvatar5150 said:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/us/politics/rfk-jr-rock-creek-bacteria.html?unlocked_article_code=1.G08.qPCh.y4qtl3PA6XAp&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, posted photos on Sunday of himself and his grandchildren swimming in a contaminated Washington creek where swimming is not allowed because it is used for sewer runoff.

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.

How can such a stupid decision be made by a public official?

I thought not swimming where there may be free floating fecal matter was an easy decision.

I hope the grandchild does not get a brain eating amoeba.

Larniavc · May 13, 2025

Laodicean60 said:
Yuck, don't we have laws to prevent allowing the runoff?

It’s been like that for 50 years I believe.

‘Murica!

wing2000 · May 13, 2025

...Rock Creek Park warning sign in English....and Spanish:

Washington DC,Rock Creek Park,urban park,water,sign,danger,bilingual,English,Spanish,language,deadly undertow,swimming prohibited,DC170525061 Stock Photo - Alamy

durangodawood · May 13, 2025

Pommer said:
.....“whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger”....

Thats an iconic but somewhat garbage platitude, easily refuted by examples anyone can think of.

The IbanezerScrooge · May 13, 2025

wing2000 said:
...Rock Creek Park warning sign in English....and Spanish:

Washington DC,Rock Creek Park,urban park,water,sign,danger,bilingual,English,Spanish,language,deadly undertow,swimming prohibited,DC170525061 Stock Photo - Alamy

So, it was posted and he did break the law. I'm sure we'll see fines and penalties against RFK Jr. incoming....

Any second now...

durangodawood · May 13, 2025

wing2000 said:
...Rock Creek Park warning sign in English....and Spanish:

Washington DC,Rock Creek Park,urban park,water,sign,danger,bilingual,English,Spanish,language,deadly undertow,swimming prohibited,DC170525061 Stock Photo - Alamy

Well its in Spanish, which is an illegal language in the USA.

Hans Blaster · May 13, 2025

Laodicean60 said:
Yuck, don't we have laws to prevent allowing the runoff?

A lot of infrastructure investment is needed to prevent it. Many sewer systems used to discharge straight into streams, lakes, or oceans. Newer ones don't, but older ones can have cross connections (particularly to storm sewers, if they are even separate) that overflow sewage into streams in heavy rains.

durangodawood · May 13, 2025

Hans Blaster said:
A lot of infrastructure investment is needed to prevent it. Many sewer systems used to discharge straight into streams, lakes, or oceans. Newer ones don't, but older ones can have cross connections (particularly to storm sewers, if they are even separate) that overflow sewage into streams in heavy rains.

Yeah I think Portland and San Fran have many sort of "shared tunnel" mains, where there's like 2 open troughs along the bottom of a big pipe. One for sanitary sewer and one for storm drainage. But when a storm gets "too big, it over flows its own trough and they mix and the mix goes out the storm discharge to daylight at a creek or beach.

I think lots of older cities have this too. The expense to fix this is probably huge. Perhaps in a stroke of genius someone will propose an "infrastructure bill."

RFK Jr Takes Family Swimming in Contaminated River

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