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The creek runs into the Animas River, which then flows into the San Juan River in New Mexico and joins the Colorado River in Utah.

Officials emphasized that there was no threat to drinking water from the spill. But downstream water agencies were warned to avoid Animas water until the plume passes, said David Ostrander, director of EPA’s emergency response program in Denver.

Officials weren’t sure how long it would take the plume to dissipate, Ostrander said. The acidic sludge is made of heavy metal and soil, which could irritate the skin, he said.

The EPA was testing the plume to see which metals were released. Previous contamination from the mine sent iron, aluminum, cadmium, zinc and copper into the water, said Peter Butler, co-coordinator of the Animas River Stakeholders Group.

Earlier Thursday, the EPA said in a statement that the polluted water “was held behind unconsolidated debris near an abandoned mine portal.”

The plume made its way to Durango on Thursday afternoon, prompting La Plata County health officials to warn rafters and others to avoid the water. The scenic waterway was the backdrop for parts of the movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and is popular with summer boaters.

Durango stopped pumping water out of the Animas River on Wednesday to make sure none of the waste could be sucked up into the city reservoir. It also suspended the transfers of raw water to a local golf course and Fort Lewis College. Pet owners were advised to keep dogs and livestock out of the Animas.

“It’s really, really ugly,” Butch Knowlton, La Plata County’s director of emergency preparedness, told The Durango Herald. “Any kind of recreational activity on the river needs to be suspended.”

Chris Sanchez, a spokesman for New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, said in a statement released Thursday night that the governor is “very concerned” by the spill and has ordered state agencies to work with local and federal officials “to ensure the health and safety of New Mexicans is protected.”

“The Governor is disturbed by the lack of information provided by the EPA to our environmental agencies in New Mexico and strongly believes that people in our communities downstream deserve to have all the information about this situation,” Sanchez said.

He said the state was not notified about the release until 9:30 a.m. Thursday even though it is reported to have occurred at about 10:40 a.m. Wednesday and that first notification came from the Southern Ute Tribe.

“Governor Martinez hopes the EPA will be more cooperative and forthcoming moving forward as we work to address this situation and that the EPA will demand the same of itself as it would of a private business responsible for such a spill,” Sanchez said.

In Farmington, N.M., city officials shut down water-supply intake pumps to avoid contamination and advised citizens to stay out of the river until the discoloration has passed. Don Cooper, emergency manager in San Juan County, said people should not panic because the EPA had told the county the spill would not harm people and that the primary pollutants were iron and zinc.

“It’s not going to look pretty, but it’s not a killer,” Cooper told The (Farmington) Daily Times.

The impact on wildlife wasn’t clear. There are no fish in the Cement Creek watershed because of longstanding problems with water quality, the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment said.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife was placing cages containing fish in the Animas River to monitor what happens to them, spokesman Joe Lewandowski said.

“We’ll see if those fish survive,” Lewandowski said. “We’re also monitoring to make sure we don’t get infiltration into the hatchery, because that could be a problem.”

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife office in suburban Denver did not immediately return a call asking about the spill.

Durango resident Lisa Shaefer said she was near the mine Wednesday when a mine bulwark broke and sent a torrent of water downstream that raised the water level 2 to 3 feet in Cement Creek. The initial wall of water carried rocks and debris and made a roar as it pushed through a culvert, she said.

“What came down was the filthiest yellow mustard water you’ve ever seen,” she told the newspaper.