REPORT ON EFFLUENTS FROM ABBOTT LABORATORIES
NORTH CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
JANUARY 15, 1970
MARCH, 1970
Federal Water Pollution Control Administration
Great Lakes Region
Lake Michigan Basin Office
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EFFLUENTS FROM ABBOTT LABORATORIES
NORTH CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
i
Introduction
On January 9, 1970, Messrs. Jacob D. Dumelle and Roscoe Libby
from the Lake Michigan Basin Office, Great Lakes Region, FrtfPCA, and
Mr. Prince of the State of Illinois Attorney General's staff visited
the North Chicago, Illinois, plant of Abbott Laboratories. The purpose
of the visit was to obtain data on the effluent discharged from the
Abbott Laboratory manufacturing processes and to make arrangements for
the F^PCA to take samples from various points throughout the plant. The
visit was made at the specific request of Assistant Secretary Carl Klein.
A group of Abbott Laboratory personnel consisting of J. Milne,
Dr. Charles S. Brown, David Schwarz, Richard Kissel and Robert Barnes
met with Dumelle, Prince, and Libby. Questions on the plant and
manufacturing processes were answered by the Abbott group. Dr. Brown
outlined the historical development of the company and described the
growth of their industrial, waste treatment plant, describing the steps
which are being taken, and which will be programmed in the future for
the purpose of eliminating pollution to Lake Michigan. The future plans
are to connect the Abbott industrial waste effluent to the North Shore
Sanitary District's treatment plant after the District diverts its
effluent from Lake Michigan to the Des Plaines River watershed.
Description of Plant
The Abbott Laboratories' North Chicago plant occupies approximately
52 acres of land east of Sheridan Road in North Chicago. The abutting
properties limit the expansion of this plant and restrict the expansion
of its industrial waste treatment facilities. Plans are being implemented
to double the size of the holding equalization tanks and of the activated
sludge plant.
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The plant(s) manufacture professional pharma.ceuticals, hospital
products a.rid diagnostics, pediatric products, consumer products and
animal health, agricultural, a.nd chemical lines. Manufacturing processes
employ various chemical methods as well as fermentation processes vith
the associated extraction of antibiotics from the liquors using liquid-
liquid separation and solvent extraction. Drying, packaging, and material
handling operations are employed and utilized to separate the salable
products from the waste materials.
Waste materials a,re variously handled. Spent beer frc;n the
antibiotic lines is sent to an evaporation plant from which emerges
a concentrate. This concentrate is broken down into a solid fraction
which is buried off site, and a liquid portion vhich is also disposed
of off site. Miscellaneous waste materials such as floor drainage,
spillage, etc, are sent to the activated waste treatment plant. The
plant equalization tank holds about one day's waste from the fermentation
wastes, miscellaneous ana chemical processes areas. The high-temperature
industrial waste plant employs a, twenty-hour aeration cycle. The effluent
from this plane is mixed with spent rev water from the fermentation and
chemical areas before discharge to Lake Michigan. The term spent raw
water includes wash up and cooling waters, spillage, and water not
directly used in the manufacture of salable products.
Effluent
The discharge of the Abbott Laboratory Manufacturing complex to
Lake Michigan is through one outfall. The effluent fron this outfall
contains the discharges from the various manufacturing a.rea,s, the
industrial wa.ste treatment plant and spent raw water. Discharge from
Abbott Laboratories is governed by the State of Illinois Uater Duality
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Standards as issued by the Illinois Sanitary Water Board as
"Rules and Regulations SWB-T". This Standard was approved by the
U. S. Department of Interior January 27, 1968, and by the Sanitary
Water Board March 5, 1968.
Discharges to Lake Michigan are limited to effluents having a
UO mg/1 five day B.O.D. and ^5 nig/1 for suspended solids for secondary
treatraent plants.
The discharge to Lake Michigan from. June-ZIovember 19^9, inclusive,
contained waste concentrations and flows as shown in Table I as reported
by Abbott.
Table la lists information on Abbott Laboratories as detailed
in the September l6, 19^9 letter from Abbott Laboratories to Klassen.
The concentrations are set out in Technical Release 20-22, second
edition, Rev. April 1, 1968.
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Sample Collection
> Sampling at Abbott Laboratories was discixssed with personnel
of the company j>nd F.-7PCA representatives on January y, 1973 and samples
from toe various effluents were taken on January 15, 1970. The samples
were preserved and transported to the FtfPCA laboratory on the sane day
as collected. Duplicate samples were taken for Abbott Laboratories.
LMBO 77=5295 included wastes from, fermentation wastes a.nd
miscellaneous lines
LMBO #5296 chemical wastes
LMBO {-52.97 spent raw water from north fermentation area.
11-130 77=5298 spent raw water from south fermentation area
11-130 vr5576 spent raw water froa the chemical ares.
LMBO 7r5!-l8 effluent from the activated sludge plant
LMBO ~5505 aii~'~ed waste which contains the c-ombined waste
streams from the industrial waste plant plus the spent
raw water streets (EGO los. 5297, 5298,, 537o, and 5^1
IZ'30 7/555'^ dische.r^e to L?./.e yicrii^an which contained the entire
discha.i^e of the Abbott Laboratories with the possible
addition of storm sewers which Join the Abbott waste
stream "between ^he Abbott total disaha.r^e point a.s
sampled at LM30 S?-:plir.g Point 5505 aid LaV.e Michigan.
Th3 c s^^iTyle was ?O"~"oosi~^ed fro" "^ different ^rab
Table Ii lists the results of the chec'.cel analyses performed by
the La.1.:e Michigan Basin Office of the Federal Water Pollution Control
Administration. These analyses were performed for the purpose of
determining the contributions from various manufacturing areas to the
waste streams in the plant.
Table III contains the results of microbiological sampling by
the Lake Michigan Basin Office of trie Federal Water Pollution Control
Administration.
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Cpnclusions
The analysis of the two stations, one vhere the discharge
leaves the Abbott Laboratories, and one vhere the discharge to
the lake occurs, furnish a good picture of the waste being
discharged to Lake Michigan. Some materials are being added
or picked up "between Abbott's last manhole and the point where
discharge is made to La-ie Michigan. The fact that Sample #5505
is a grab sample and ^5556* is a composite nay account for some
of the differences. The total iron, manganese, zinc, and chromium
in the composite discharge to the lake may be from flow in storm
severs which originates at other industries than Abbott Laboratories.
Suspended solids are higher than the ^5 ppn allowed
under SWB #7 Standards and in Technical Release 20-22 and,
therefore, are in violation of the standards and technical release.
B.O.D. results were inconclusive and are not included. They
should be rerun as toxic materials nay have affected the results.
The microbiological samples show high coliforms and fecal
strep. This would seem to indicate cross connections between
sanitary severs and industrial waste sewers.
*Abbott Laboratories of North Chicago, Illinois has ma.de the statement
that the discharge to Lake Michigan commonly called the Abbott outfall
LMBO rr5556" has cross connections with other underground lines where it
crosses the North Shore Sanitary District property and that this
outfall line is the property of the ITorth Shore Sanitary District.
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