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NANJING, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Textile and dye manufacturer Dystar (Nanjing) Dyestuff Company has been fined for improper handling of 2,700 tonnes of acid that ended up in east China rivers.
According to the Intermediate People's Court of Yangzhou in Jiangsu Province, the acid was a waste product of textile and dye manufacturing. The Nanjing-based company sold the waste to an unlicensed disposal firm, which resold it to a sub-contractor.
The court found that between September 2013 and May 2014, 2,698 tonnes of the waste acid was dumped into the Taidong River and the New Tongyang Canal in Jiangsu. The other 130 tonnes were seized.
Environmental agencies found the waste contained high concentrations of sulphuric acid and a large number of organic compounds, posing great environmental danger and possibly causing long-term ecological damage, according to the court.
Dystar (Nanjing) Dyestuff Company was fined 20 million yuan (2.9 million U.S. dollars). Six people responsible for dumping were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three and a half to five years.
Those convicted include a dye company official who solicited commissions from the unlicensed disposal firm amounting to 281,000 yuan.
