Chinese company receives costly pollution penalty

A Chinese chemical company in east China's Zhejiang province has been fined 20 million yuan ($3.25 million) for illegally discharging waste water and polluting the environment, local authorities said on Tuesday.

The fine is the largest sum handed down for pollution in the province.

Zhejiang Huidelong Dyeing Chemical Co. Ltd. was found guilty of conspiring with another chemical company to discharge more than 5,000 tons of waste water into an urban sewage pipeline without proper treatment in 2012, according to a ruling from the district people's court of Shangyu, Shaoxing City on Monday.

The company was also found guilty of dumping more than 18,000 tons of waste water inside the seawall of Hangzhou Bay between April and September 2013, according to the court.

Eleven people involved in the illegal discharge were given jail terms of up to four years, according to the court.