Updated on 12 January 2026 at 15h47
This article written in french was automatically translated using AI
Superior General Partner Inc. was sentenced on January 7 to pay a $1,350,000 fine for violations of the Fisheries Act.
The company, which owned and operated the ERCO MONDIAL chemical manufacturing plant in Gatineau at the time of the offences, pleaded guilty to 12 counts for discharging sodium chlorite into fish-bearing waters between June 27 and July 19, 2019.
Jean-François Roux, the plant’s technical and environmental director at the time, was also ordered to pay a $15,000 fine.
As a result of this conviction, the company’s name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry, which contains information on convictions handed down against corporations that have committed offences under federal environmental laws.
It should be noted that the amount of the fine will be paid into the Environmental Damages Fund, whose monies are reinvested in the regions where the environmental damage occurred.
The facts
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) was notified by a plant representative on July 24, 2019. A spill of sodium chlorite, a harmful substance, into the Lièvre River through the plant’s final effluent following an equipment failure was reported at that time.
ECCC enforcement officers subsequently conducted on-site inspections, opened an investigation and identified various violations of the Fisheries Act.
The investigation revealed that 12 discharges of sodium chlorite occurred between June 27 and July 19, 2019. In addition, employees were slow to identify the leak, and five days passed before the government authority was notified.
The Lièvre River, which flows into the Ottawa River, is home to several fish species, including smallmouth bass, brook trout, walleye and muskellunge.
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