The Colombian Ministry of Environment said Thursday it decided to give Drummond Company, Inc. a fine of 3.5 million U.S. dollars for dumping coal and causing an environmental disaster in the Bay of Santa Marta and Cienaga along the northern Caribbean coast.

Drummond, a leading coal producer based in Birmingham in the U. S. state of Alabama, allegedly dumped more than 1,500 metric tons of coal in the said coastal region on Jan. 13, said Minister Luz Helena Sarmiento of the Environment in a press release Thursday.

The fine is the highest ever imposed by the Ministry in the country, said the minister, who also demanded the U.S. company clean up the affected beaches within one year.

Drummond has 10 days to appeal the decision.

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