(CNN) The environmental crew had one job: pump out and treat contaminated water at the Gold King Mine in southern Colorado.

Instead, when the workers for the Environmental Protection Agency used heavy equipment to enter the defunct mine on August 5, 2015, a leak sprung. A massive one.

The EPA has taken full responsibility and announced it was temporarily ceasing work at other mines to avoid a repeat.

Water tainted with heavy metal gushed from Gold King into the nearby Animas River, turning it a solid mustard color. It flowed downstream for dozens of miles crossing state lines. It made life miserable for thousands who depend on the river water.

Here is the toll the spill has taken told by the numbers.

3 million

JUST WATCHED River turns orange after waste contamination Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH River turns orange after waste contamination 02:00

The number of gallons of heavy metal filled wastewater the U.S. Geological Survey says spilled into the Animas River. That's about 60,000 bathtubs full.

The bright discoloration was an obvious flag that something was awry in the river. But the EPA was sluggish with information in the aftermath, as residents worried about possible damage to their health, and businesses on the river shut down.

12,000

That's how many times higher than normal the level of lead was in one water sample tested from the Animas River shortly after the spill.

Lead poisoning is tricky, because at low levels, it can be hard to detect. It can slow down child development and cause learning disabilities, the Mayo Clinic says

Lead is just one of the many heavy metals released, and it's not the deadliest. The wastewater also contained extremely high levels of arsenic, cadmium, beryllium and mercury. It also contained zinc, iron and copper.

3

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The number of states heavily hit by the spill: Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

The attorneys general of the states hinted they might sue the federal government individually or collectively. But Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said, "It is too early to know if litigation is necessary or appropriate."

The EPA has mentioned the idea of an independent review of the incident in addition to its own. The attorneys general support this.

2

The number of rivers affected. The heavy metal plume also flowed from the Animas into the San Juan River in New Mexico. It carried the pollution into Utah.

The rivers serve as the source for five water supply systems, the EPA told CNN affiliate KOAT.

It's hard to say how many people the spill affected.

The banks of the rivers are sparsely populated, but they are surrounded by farmland in an otherwise dry to desert terrain, and farmers are dependent upon river water to irrigate their crops.

45,000

Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange An EPA worker takes a water reading in the Animas River near Durango, Colorado, on Friday, August 14. The river reopened for recreational use Friday afternoon in La Plata County, Colorado, where an EPA crew polluted the waterway with mine waste on August 5, authorities said. Hide Caption 1 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange The entrance area of the Gold King Mine is seen on August 14. Hide Caption 2 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange A settling pond is used on Tuesday, August 11, in Silverton, Colorado, at Cement Creek, which was flooded with millions of gallons of mining wastewater. Settling ponds are used to reduce the acidity of mining wastewater so that it carries fewer heavy metals. Hide Caption 3 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange The contaminated Animas River flows through Durango on August 7. Over 2 million gallons of mine wastewater made its way into the river, putting the city on alert. Hide Caption 4 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange Tom Bartles shared views of the river from his backyard in Durango, before and after the spill. The before shot, on the left, was captured on August 6 when Bartles was aware the spill happened and was making its way down the river to Durango. The photo showing the "after" was captured on August 7. Hide Caption 5 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange The spill caused a spike in concentrations of total and dissolved metals in the water, the EPA said. Matthew Evans shot this photo August 7. Hide Caption 6 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange Evans shot these photos outside the Durango Riverside Resort. The top photo was taken on August 4; the bottom photo was shot August 7. Hide Caption 7 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange Kayakers float along the Animas River near Durango, Colorado, on August 6, in water colored from the mine waste spill. Hide Caption 8 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange "It was devastating to see this happen to our community. I was just in the river last weekend and we all love it around here," said Ryan Urban , who shot this photo in Hermosa. "Whenever there is any type of oil spill or waste in the water, it makes me hurt for the earth." Hide Caption 9 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange Contaminated water accidentally released by the EPA turned a stretch of the Animas River orange. Hide Caption 10 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange Durango resident Ian Lucier shot several photos of the river with his drone. Hide Caption 11 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange "I got a text from a friend of mine in the morning asking if I had heard about or seen the river. At that point the orange water hadn't reached town so I headed north to see if I could find it," Lucier said. "When I first saw it, I was speechless, [the river] didn't look real." Hide Caption 12 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange Authorities asked people to stay out of the water until EPA tests confirmed the contamination had dissipated. Hide Caption 13 of 14 Photos: EPA spill turns Animas River orange "This is so insanely tragic and absolutely crazy. It feels like something out of a sci-fi novel/movie," wrote Durango native Kristen Goldman . She shot this photo August 6 from the Dalton Ranch Bridge. Hide Caption 14 of 14

That's the population of the largest town affected by the spill: Farmington, New Mexico. It's located on the spot where the Animas flows into the San Juan. The next largest municipality is Durango, Colorado, with a population of more than 17,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Navajo community around the town of Shiprock, which is downstream from Farmington on the San Juan River, is hard hit as well. Some 750 farmers there need river water to irrigate.

The community has vowed legal action against the EPA.

90

That's how many days' water reserves Farmington has before it will need to draw river water. Farmington's reserves also supply nearby towns with drinking water, including Shiprock.

Some residents are concerned the heavy metal spill might seep into groundwater, poisoning wells. More than 400 Farmington residents who draw their water from wells have turned in samples for testing.

A week after the spill, tests indicate that the Animas River is returning to normal, but fears linger over possible long-term consequences. Experts say adverse health effects from heavy metal poisoning can take years to become apparent.

500,000