Whoops! This river was turned orange… by workers trying to rid it of contamination

Whoops. Mega whoops.

Regulators examining a contaminated river near a gold mine accidentally released a million gallons of waste which tued the water orange.

‘Cement Creek’, or the Animas River, next to the Gold King Mine, in Colorado, changed colour after equipment workers were using to treat the waste when a breach occurred.

Rich Mylott, a spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency, confirmed that nobody was hurt.

The EPA is testing the water to see if it’s harmful to the aquatic life (Picture: EPA)

He said: ‘The primary environment conce is the pulse of contaminated water containing sediment and metals flowing as an orange-coloured discharge downstream.’

Water users downstream have been waed by Federal and Colorado health officials to avoid activities in the water until the contaminated water passes by.

Officials in Durango said tap water was safe for drinking as they managed to stop water flowing from the Animas River, instead managing to draw water from the Florida River – which was unaffected.

The EPA is taking samples of the water to test if the waste has fully passed and posed no risk to aquatic life.