Mining Corporation Fined $2.7 Million for Leaking Arsenic into Arizona Creek

PHOENIX – A Maricopa County Judge ordered Bagdad Hillside, LLC, to pay fines and surcharges totaling $2,745,000 after an investigation revealed the corporation was discharging arsenic into a public creek.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) investigated this case and discovered Bagdad Hillside, LLC, owned a mine in Yavapai County that was discharging arsenic-contaminated water directly into Boulder Creek at a rate of 5 gallons per minute or about 2.6 million gallons per year.
 
Back in 2014 and 2015, Bagdad Hillside, LLC signed three compliance consent orders with the ADEQ agreeing to come up with a plan to stop the discharge and to apply for the appropriate environmental permits. However, no plan was ever submitted, and the mine continued to discharge into Boulder Creek.
 
Bagdad Hillside, LLC was convicted of three felony violations of the Arizona Pollution Discharge Elimination System. In addition to the fines and surcharges, the corporation was also placed on two years of felony probation.

Assistant Attorneys General Adam J. Schwartz and Jordyn Raimondo prosecuted this case.