US EPA fines California drugmaker for pollution

California, USA-based BioMarin Pharmaceutical has been fined $119,717 by the Environmental Protection Agency for the discharge, over 62 days, of low pH industrial wastewater at the firm's Novato production site.

The emissions entered the domestic sewer network and from there were pumped into the San Pablo Bay intertidal flats, the federal government agency said. The fine was levied under the Clear Water Act and BioMarin has also been tasked with making a series of reparations to local waterways, including monitoring some local vegetation growth for three years.