News Release

Leveraging Water as a Resource Versus a Waste: A Business and Community Collaboration

In late 2000 when Baxter Healthcare Corporation was undergoing a routine permit renewal from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) for its Round Lake, Illinois, wastewater treatment plant, it received some surprising news. More than 30 letters had been submitted to the IEPA from local residents protesting the permit renewal, asserting that the plant was polluting their local lake -- Long Lake a 340-acre residential and recreational body of water.

Treated wastewater from Baxter's Round Lake facility, which employs approximately 2,000 people, eventually ends up in Long Lake after passing through a local tributary and four different wetlands. The plant's wastewater treatment facility has an excellent IEPA compliance record and the concentrations and quantities of material its discharges routinely meet or are better than IEPA requirements. In addition, the facility has achieved International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 certification for environmental management systems and has earned several awards, including an Industrial Achievement Award from the Illinois Association of Water Pollution Control Operators.

While the environmental performance of Baxter's Round Lake facility was well known to government and industry organizations in Illinois, it was not to the community. The strong public opposition led the IEPA and Baxter to co-host a public information meeting.

At the meeting a consultant hired by the Long Lake Improvement and Sanitation Association (LLISA) pointed to Baxter as one of the largest point source contributors of phosphorous to Long Lake, saying it contributed between 3.8 to 7.7 percent of the phosphorous entering Long Lake on an annual basis. This assertion contradicted data from the company and IEPA, which showed the company contributing less than 1 percent of the phosphorous entering Long Lake. In addition to phosphorus, the community was concerned with other components in Baxter's treated wastewater discharge and the related long-term and/or cumulative effects, even though the components were within IEPA standards.

The bottom line was that the exact impact of Baxter's treated wastewater discharge on Long Lake, which had been taking place for more than 30 years, was uncertain. And, it was this uncertainty the company needed to address.

Community Outreach -- Identifying Common Objectives, Building Common Understanding
Following the IEPA public meeting it was clear that increased communication between the facility and residents was needed, and in hindsight should have taken place sooner. Representatives from the facility's environment, health and safety (EHS) team met with LLISA representatives and their Lake County Board representative, Bonnie Thomson Carter. In that meeting the residents and Carter voiced their concerns about the impact of the company's treated wastewater on Long Lake and their desire that the company discontinue its discharge altogether to the lake.

Seeking to set the record straight about the impact of its treated wastewater discharge to Long Lake and to work collaboratively with the community to that end, Baxter's Round Lake EHS team offered to fund and fully support a Long Lake watershed analysis. The Baxter team also committed to evaluate and pursue options that would allow it to reduce or eliminate its discharge to Long Lake within two years, which would be July 2003.

"Meeting with the Long Lake residents and Bonnie Thomson Carter marked a turning point on this issue, and the start of what would become a great partnership between Baxter and the Long Lake community, which have joined together to work toward some aggressive environmental objectives," said Joe Wolfsberger, vice president of environment, health and safety for Baxter's Medication Delivery, Renal and Fenwal facilities. "I believe this partnership exceeded everyone's expectation about what we could accomplish working together for the benefit of the environment."

The Long Lake Watershed Analysis Team
In June 2001, soon after the first meeting between Baxter, the LLISA representatives and Carter, the Long Lake Watershed Analysis Team was developed. The goal of the watershed analysis is to identify and quantify the impact of the many sources across the hundreds of square acres of watershed that drain into Long Lake and to recommend plans for improving the quality of the lake water.

This project brought together not only Baxter, LLISA representatives and Carter, but also representatives from the Lake County Health Department's Lakes Management team, Lake County Public Works and the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission. The team was developed strategically to bring all decision makers to the table, as well as a broad range of expertise and resources.

"This is a good example of how open dialogue and collaboration between local residents and business can result in significant benefits for the community and, in this case, the environment as well," said Carter. "This team was built on trust, and I think one of the most important elements of this partnership was clearly communicating expectations and following through on commitments."

The project will be completed during the Summer of 2002, at which time Baxter's wastewater treatment plant team members will have collected 51 weekly samples from seven different points in the watershed. The points were strategically selected by the team to provide a representative sample of the sources that were damaging to the quality of the lake water. Also, as part of this project, a watershed model will be developed that can gauge future impact from local development.

Eliminating Baxter's Treated Wastewater Discharge to Long Lake
A parallel project to the Long Lake watershed analysis supported Baxter's commitment to evaluate and pursue options to reduce or discontinue its treated wastewater discharge to Long Lake. Baxter spent several months and extensive resources in evaluating such options that would not only allow it to discontinue its discharge to Long Lake, but provide for a broader community and environmental benefit that was feasible from a business standpoint.

One option suggested originally by LLISA representatives was Baxter connecting to a Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW) facility. Baxter evaluated this option, as well as several others and brought five back to the team for review. In presenting the POTW option, Baxter showed that this would not allow for some of the broader community and environmental benefits other options offered, such as Baxter beneficially reusing its treated wastewater.

It turned out that the most appealing to the team was a combination of options Baxter suggested. One of the most innovative, and the first-of-its-kind in Illinois, was an industrial water reclamation project that will allow Baxter to beneficially reuse its treated wastewater onsite.

This project, as proposed by Baxter, involves the company leasing up to 185 acres of land to Synnestvedt, a neighboring commercial landscape nursery, which will use it to plant nursery stock. This nursery stock will be irrigated with Baxter's treated wastewater. During times when the nursery stock cannot be irrigated, the treated wastewater will be retained in a storage pond for reuse.

This project contains a number of innovative characteristics. For example:

• This will use fully treated wastewater, which will be applied to ensure absorption by trees or soil protecting against runoff.
• During the winter months when conditions are not suitable for irrigation, the water will be retained in a storage pond for reuse.
• In supporting the growth of trees and shrubs, the project allows for increased absorption of greenhouses gases, such as carbon dioxide, and contributes to the company's global climate change efforts.
• It will keep water in the watershed by beneficially reusing water in the irrigation of nursery stock. At the same time, it will reduce the amount of water that is removed from the local aquifer by replacing the well water the nursery uses for irrigation with the treated wastewater discharge from Baxter.
• It will allow Baxter the flexibility to maintain whatever level of discharge necessary to support valuable wetland habitats downstream of the company's Round Lake facility.

Water Conservation and Treatment Improvements
Two other options the project team found appealing was Baxter continuing to pursue water conservation efforts and increasing the current level of treatment. At the beginning of 2001, Baxter was discharging approximately 240,000 gallons of water a day. At the end of the 2001, through implementation of water conservation efforts driven largely by this project, the company had reduced its wastewater discharge by about 20 percent to approximately 200,000 gallons a day. In conserving 40,000 gallons of water a day, the company also saves more than $80,000 a year.

Other planned water conservation efforts could reduce the facility's wastewater discharge by another 20 percent and provide for further cost savings. Moreover, treatment process improvements have decreased the company's use of one treatment chemical, chlorine, by nearly 60 percent.

"In the sixteen months that we've been working with Baxter, I think we've developed a mutual respect that has brought us to this point," said Sander E. Sundberg, Ph.D., P.E., president, Long Lake Improvement and Sanitation Association. "Early in our meetings, we emphasized that they should think of us as their conscience. We were there to ensure that full consideration was given to all options. We were represented at every group meeting. They listened to us, and we listened to them. The final result was indeed a group effort with input from the Long Lake community, the Health Department, Stormwater Management, and especially Bonnie Carter, our county board representative. All we can do now is to hope that the right course of action has been taken."

Next Steps
While a contentious situation led to the start of this project, a collaborative business and community spirit driven by environmental goals will mark its outcome. In July 2002, Baxter and Synesstedt announced the launch of water reclamation partnership. At the same time the Long Lake Watershed Analysis Team was finalizing the watershed analysis.

"My hope is that we can share with others, both internal and external to Baxter, what we've learned through this project and that it can serve as a model for how businesses and communities can work together for environmental and community gains," said Wolfsberger.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

	Media Contact: Tanya Tyska, 847-948-3256