Baxter Will Stop Dumping Water In Long Lake, CEO Says

DEERFIELD, IL — As a group of local residents protested Tuesday's shareholder meeting of Baxter International, the company's CEO said it intends to stop dumping treated water from its Round Lake facility into nearby Long Lake.

For more than a 15 years, neighborhood group Stop Pollution in Long Lake (SPILL) has opposed the water disposal practices of Baxter Healthcare's research, development and manufacturing facility at Route 120 and Wilson Road because of potential negative effects to the lake and wildlife, according to the Daily Herald.

The group held a protest outside the annual shareholder meeting of the Deerfield-based healthcare company. Inside the meeting, CEO Jose Almeida said some residents "don't like the fact that we do discharge the clean water into the lake," but he said the company was working to get a permit to pump the treated water into the public wastewater system, according to the Chicago Tribune.

After the meeting, Baxter issued a statement that it was "actively working" with relevant agencies to get permits to "begin construction of the connection to the public wastewater system." The company said it has scheduled meetings in the coming weeks to move the process forward, the Daily Herald reported. "We appreciate the opportunity to work with the agencies to secure the required permits as soon as possible."

SPILL spokesperson Paige Fitten said she wanted to see "a signed sewer connection agreement," the Daily Herald reported. She said she was "hopeful" but that Baxter was "way overdue," according to the Tribune.

Sign up to get Patched in: real-time email alerts for the latest news for Deerfield or other communities. And iPhone users can check out Patch's new app.

The Illinois Environmental Protection agency issued a violation notice to Baxter last August, notifying the company that it was exceeding its permit for the amount suspended solids and had the wrong amount of dissolved oxygen in the water it was releasing.

In September, SPILL filed a complaint with the Illinois Pollution Control Board regarding Long Lake's water quality.

As of January, Baxter was unable to provide the Daily Herald with a timeline for when a connection to the sewer system or an agreement with state environmental regulators would take place.

Top photo | Long Lake | Google Street View