GATINEAU — A company that operated a chemical manufacturing plant in western Quebec has been fined $1.35 million for discharging a harmful substance into the Rivière du Lièvre in 2019.

Superior General Partner Inc., which owned and operated the Erco Mondial plant in 2019, had pleaded guilty in Quebec court to 12 counts of discharging sodium chlorite into the water, a violation of the Fisheries Act.

Both the company and Jean-Francois Roux — the plant’s technical director at the time of the violations — also pleaded guilty to one additional count of failing to inform federal authorities about the spills.

Environment and Climate Change Canada says in a statement that it was informed by a company official on July 24, 2019, of the discharges into the river, which were the result of equipment failure.

The Rivière du Lièvre flows into the Ottawa River and is home to several species of fish, including smallmouth bass, brook trout, walleye and muskellunge.

The disclosure triggered an investigation by federal environment officials, who found that between June 27 and July 19, 2019, the company had discharged the chemical a dozen times into the river.

The company was ordered on Wednesday to pay $1.35 million and Roux was fined $15,000.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 9, 2026.

The Canadian Press