The owner of a factory in Shanghai's Baoshan District has been sentenced to nine months in prison suspended for a year after being found guilty of dumping wastewater into a local waterway.

The 65-year-old defendant, identified only by his surname Jin, was also ordered to pay compensation of 50,000 yuan (US$7,700), while his company was fined 100,000 yuan.

At his trial at the Baoshan District People's Court, Jin was accused of authorizing the installation of a pipe to run from his textiles plant on Hutai Road to Huating Creek in May last year.

The connection was used to discharge 2.6 tons of wastewater into the creek, which when analyzed was found to contain three times the permitted concentration of chromium — a chemical that is commonly used in the fabric dyeing process.

Prosecutors said the factory was not licensed to process industrial wastewater and was therefore guilty of deliberately polluting the environment.