French dairy giant accused of polluting country's famous rivers for years

Investigation alleges Lactalis breached environmental regulations at several plants and released milk derivatives that killed fish

France's largest dairy company has repeatedly polluted the country's rivers over the past decade, according to a new report by French media organisation Disclose.

During a year-long investigation into dairy giant Lactalis, Disclose found that 38 of the company's production sites in France had breached environmental regulations. In many cases, according to the report, this involved the release into rivers of milk-related derivatives - which can be deadly to aquatic life in large volumes - or byproducts from wastewater treatment plants. The report contains evidence of several instances that it says resulted in the death of fish.