A Maricopa County judge has found Bagdad Hillside, LLC guilty of 3 felony violations of the Arizona Pollution Discharge Elimination System Program. The judge also ordered Bagdad Hillside’s Chief Financial Officer John Lopes to personally attend the sentencing on May 10, 2018, or face a bench warrant.
This case was investigated by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality who discovered that Bagdad Hillside, LLC owned a mine in Yavapai County which was discharging arsenic contaminated water directly into adjacent Boulder Creek at a rate of 5 gallons per minute or about 2.6 million gallons per year.
Between 2014 and 2015, Bagdad Hillside, LLC signed 3 compliance by consent orders with ADEQ where the company agreed to come up with a plan to stop the discharge and to apply for the appropriate environmental permits. However, a plan was not submitted, proper permits were not issued, and the mine continues to discharge into Boulder Creek.
The company could face fines and will be required to pay restitution at sentencing.