Sentencing set for company that dumped contaminated water

A judge has scheduled a May 10 sentencing for a mining company convicted of felony charges of discharging arsenic-contaminated water into a creek in Yavapai County.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Warren Granville on April 5 convicted Bagdad Hillside LLC of three felony counts of violating a pollution discharge law.

Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office said Bagdad Hillside discharged contaminated water from its mine into Boulder Creek at a rate of about 2.6 million (9.8 million liters) a year after signing consent orders to stop the practice.

Brnovich’s office says Bagdad Hillside could face fines and will be required to pay restitution.

Court records indicate nobody represented the company during the hours-long trial and that Granville ordered that the company’s chief financial officer, John Lopes, to personally attend the sentencing.