Politicians taking a walk, er, swim on the wild side

Published June 29, 2011 4:00am ET



Clean Water Act, Schmean Water Act, you say?

Well these guys know how to make a point. On Thursday morning, Maryland  Sen. Paul Pinsky, D-Prince George’s, former U.S. Sen. Joe Tydings and former Maryland state senators David Harrington and Gerald Winegrad, along with other Anacostia River advocates will be  putting on mock hazmat suits and taking a plunge in the Anacostia River.

The gimmick is to highlight the failure to meet the 1983 deadline imposed by the Clean Water Act to clean up the nation’s waterways, according to the news release sent this week. But we couldn’t help but ask — um …. you’re not using real hazmat suits? Don’t you guys know what’s in the river??

Turns out they will be safe — here’s the response froma a spokeswoman:

We decided to go with the mock hazmat suits because of financial and time constraints.  The suits they will be using will provide some level of protection and we will also be taking additional safety measures including having participants wear high rubber boots and rinsing them off with clean water when they emerge from the river.

The fun starts at 10 a.m. Thursday at Bladensburg Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Rd., Bladensburg, Md.