A sewage plant in Beijing was fined 1.6 million yuan (about 251,000 U.S. dollars) for lodging false data about the quality of its effluent, said the Ministry of Environmental Protection Friday.
The plant operator intentionally misplaced its water-quality monitoring device, which automatically sends monitoring data to the environment department, and instead tested clean water in barrels rather than its actual effluent, the ministry said in a press release.
The environment watchdog was alerted to the wrongdoing as the lodged data was so different from the readings collected by inspectors, the statement said.
The ministry also named and shamed 21 other companies for manipulating monitoring figures and illegally discharging waste water.
