Babcock & Wilcox fined for Beijing air pollution

The Beijing subsidiary of US energy products and services provider Babcock & Wilcox Company was fined 600,000 yuan ($97,311) on Monday for air pollution, according to the municipal environmental protection watchdog.

It is the largest penalty over air pollution in the city since the municipal air pollution prevention and control regulation was put into effect in March, said the Beijing environmental protection bureau.

The Babcock & Wilcox Beijing Company Ltd was fined 300,000 yuan in May for painting in the open air at its factory, a practice which saw waste gas pass into the air. The gas included volatile organic compounds which are harmful to human health.

The bureau ordered the company to correct its unlawful act in May, but several examinations after that found it continued to paint in the open air. The bureau then doubled the penalty according to the regulation.