Local Company Pays for Pollution

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.25 million penalty for violations that included discharging fluorescent green discharge into a river at its plant near Mexico, Mo.Details of the settlement were announced Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency and Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster.Teva makes antibiotics at a plant outside of Mexico. Koster says the green discharge flowed into the Salt River from a wastewater treatment plant in 2008. Inspections disclosed violations of state and federal environmental laws and violations in the way the company handled waste management.Teva says in a statement that the issues leading to the penalty have been addressed and the facility is now operating in compliance with environmental laws.