Google, Landsat/Copernicus

The Hillside Mine site north of Bagdad, Arizona.

The owner of a now-abandoned mine in Yavapai County leaking arsenic into local waterways has been fined millions of dollars.

A judge has ordered Bagdad Hillside mining company to pay $2.7 million for contaminating a public creek for about three years.

An Arizona Department of Environmental Quality investigation found that Bagdad Hillside agreed to make a plan for stopping the arsenic leak, but never did.

MORE: What Do Abandoned Mines Mean For Our Health, Environment?

The arsenic-contaminated water went directly into local Boulder Creek at five gallons a minute, or about 2.6 million gallons a year.

The mining company was convicted of three felony violations and put on two years of felony probation.