Superior General Partner Inc. and one individual fined a total of $1,365,000 for violating the Fisheries Act

GATINEAU, QC, Jan. 8, 2026 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to protecting the health, safety, and environment of Canadians. Environment and Climate Change Canada enforces several laws that protect the air, water, and natural environment in Canada, and it takes pollution incidents and threats to the environment very seriously.

On January 7, 2026, Superior General Partner Inc. was ordered to pay a fine of $1,350,000 by the Court of Québec for violating the Fisheries Act. The company owned and operated the ERCO MONDIAL chemical manufacturing plant in Gatineau at the time of the violations. Jean-François Roux, the plant's technical and environmental director at the time of the violations, was fined $15,000.

The company pleaded guilty to 12 counts of depositing sodium chlorite into water frequented by fish between June 27 and July 19, 2019, in violation of the Fisheries Act. The company and the individual pleaded guilty to one count each of violating the same law by failing to immediately notify the authorities about the deposits. The total fine will be directed to the Government of Canada's Environmental Damages Fund.

On July 24, 2019, a representative of the plant informed Environment and Climate Change Canada that sodium chlorite, a substance deleterious to fish under the Fisheries Act, had been deposited into Rivière du Lièvre in the plant's final effluent on July 19, 2019. The deposit was the result of equipment failure.

After being notified of the situation, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers conducted inspections of the plant's premises. They then opened an investigation and found violations of the Fisheries Act. The investigation revealed that sodium chlorite was deposited 12 times between June 27 and July 19, 2019. In addition, the officers found that employees had been slow to identify the leak and that five days had elapsed before Environment and Climate Change Canada was notified.

As a result of this conviction, the company's name will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry. The Registry contains information on convictions of corporations registered for offences committed under certain federal environmental laws.

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Quick facts

• Rivière du Lièvre flows into the Ottawa River, whose waters are frequented by fish, as defined by the Fisheries Act. Rivière du Lièvre is home to several species of fish, including smallmouth bass, brook trout, walleye, and muskellunge.
• Environment and Climate Change Canada is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the pollution prevention provisions of the Fisheries Act, which prohibit the deposit of deleterious substances into water frequented by fish.
• The 13 charges brought before the court are as follows:
  • a total of 12 counts against Superior General Partner Inc. for contravening subsection 36(3) of the Fisheries Act on 12 occasions between June 27 and July 19, 2019, which prohibits the deposit of a deleterious substance into water frequented by fish, or in a place where it may enter water frequented by fish
  • one count against Superior General Partner Inc. and Jean-François Roux for failing to notify without delay an authority prescribed by law of the deposit of a deleterious substance in water frequented by fish, in violation of subsection 38(5) of the Fisheries Act
• Created in 1995, the Environmental Damages Fund is a Government of Canada program administered by Environment and Climate Change Canada. The Fund directs monies received from fines, penalties, court orders, and voluntary payments to projects that will repair environmental damage or benefit the environment. The Fund aims to invest in areas where the environmental damage occurred.

Associated links

• Pollution Prevention Provisions of the Fisheries Act
• Frequently Asked Questions: Fisheries Act Pollution Prevention Provisions
• Testing for Toxicity to Fish in Our Laboratories
• Environmental Damages Fund
• Environmental Offenders Registry

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SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada

Contacts: Media Relations, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free), [email protected]