Quebec Chemical Firm Hit With $1.4-Million Fine Over Substance Discharged in River

The remains of a dead fish lie on a beach along the Ottawa River, near the end of the Lievre River in the Gatineau community of Masson-Angers, on Aug. 7, 2019. The Canadian Press/Justin Tang

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.