BEIJING, May 8  -- China's ministry of environmental protection on Friday named and shamed 18 enterprises from six provinces and municipalities for excessive emissions and falsifying pollution data.

The ministry said in a statement that it sent ten inspection teams to Beijing, Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi and Henan, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to check on enforcement of China's new environmental law, which took effect on Jan. 1.

Eighteen enterprises were found to have "glaring" violations such as excessive emissions, inadequate pollution treatment facilities and falsifying pollution data, it said.

In one case, a sewage treatment plant in the suburbs of Beijing was found to have forged pollution data by switching water samples, the ministry said.

Data acquired on site showed significant discrepancies with those uploaded online to the ministry, it said, adding that inspectors found a large quantity of dead fish and duckweed in the plant's water tanks.

The ministry said it had ordered local environmental authorities to investigate and punish the polluters.

China adopted the new environmental law last year promising heavier punishment for environment-related violations.

The new law stipulated that enterprises will be named and shamed for breaking environmental protection laws.

A daily fine system was also introduced to punish offenders to offer greater incentives for companies to carry out costly modifications to reduce pollutants. If violators who are fined fail to rectify the problem, the fine may continue to increase without limit.

Executives at polluting companies could face up to 15 days of detention.