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A man rides a boat in an oil-polluted river in Zhejiang.Photo: Reuters

Chinese weed killer firm slapped with province's biggest pollution fine, staff jailed

Manufacturer of weed killer in Zhejiang province fined 75 million yuan

AP

A court in eastern Zhejiang province has fined a manufacturer of weed killer 75 million yuan (HK$95 million) and jailed the company's employees and contractors for discharging waste water that severely polluted streams in the area.

The fine levied by the Longyou county court on Jinfanda Biochemical - which makes the herbicide, glyphosate - was the largest ever for a polluter in the province, state media reported on Tuesday.

Zhejiang is one of the most prosperous but also most polluted provinces on the mainland.

Rapid economic growth and lax enforcement of regulations over the past decades have caused severe environmental damage throughout the country.

Beijing has promised to strictly enforce environmental laws and severely punish polluters in response to rising demands from citizens that air, water and soil be cleaned up.

Last December, a court in Jiangsu province ordered six companies to pay 160 million yuan for discharging waste chemicals into rivers. It was then the country's biggest environmental fine.

Last month, Beijing environmental officials fined a french fry supplier to the McDonald's restaurant chain 3.8 million yuan for releasing waste water. It was the city's biggest pollution fine.

The Longyou county government said Jinfanda hired four unqualified firms that dumped 35,000 tonnes of hazardous waste into streams.

The court convicted the company on May 18 and fined it 75 million yuan. One contractor was fined 4 million yuan.

It also sentenced 18 defendants to prison for terms ranging from 17 months to six years, and fined them between 1,000 yuan and 1 million yuan.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Firm gets Zhejiang's biggest pollution fine
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