KETCHIKAN, Alaska — The green water flowing in the Ketchikan Creek that caused some panic and drew a response from multiple agencies was the result of a prank, authorities said.
Officials determined that the dye dumped into the water Wednesday was non-toxic. Ketchikan police talked to the man responsible for the dye, but he was not arrested or cited.
"It was just a prank," Officer Charles Johnson told The Ketchikan Daily News. "He happened to come across some sort of plumbing dye that they use for testing — checking for leaks and stuff — and thought it'd be funny to throw it in the creek and make people wonder why the creek was green."
The Ketchikan Fire Department also responded to the creek around 4 p.m. after receiving reports of the green water. While the incident may have initially been a concern for fire crews, police and residents, Johnson said he did not see the activity as criminal.
"They already confirmed that the substance was non-toxic," he said. "I think the biggest problem was the slight panic of everybody trying to respond to a possible environmental disaster when there wasn't one."