Environmental Compliance

Baxter assesses its performance in environmental compliance using several measures:

Baxter received 10 environmental NOVs in 2008, the same as in 2007. Seven of these were related to wastewater, one fewer than in 2007. Two were related to late submittals of required reports and the other NOV was for late payment of a permit fee.

Baxter paid $0 in environmental fines in 2008 compared to $4,591 in 2007.

ENVIRONMENTAL NOTICES OF VIOLATION AND FINES
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Wastewater NOVs 15 12 16 8 7
Other Environmental NOVs 1 5 1 2 3
Total Environmental NOVs 16 17 17 10 10
Total Environmental Fines $31,462 $11,825 $1,500 $4,591 $0

Baxter has a goal to decrease environmental incidents 50 percent by year-end 2010, compared to 2005. By year-end 2008, Baxter achieved a 29 percent reduction. Baxter’s Castlebar, Ireland, facility continued to impact the company’s overall progress. The facility reported 12 wastewater exceedances in 2008, five fewer than in 2007. The facility is constructing a pre-treatment plant to help meet its wastewater permit requirements.

ENVIRONMENTAL INCIDENTS
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Air 6 7 2 1 1
Land 0 0 0 1 1
Wastewater 31 33 19 32 27
Drinking Water 1 1 0 0 0
Total 38 41 21 34 29

As noted in the tables, most of Baxter’s environmental incidents have been related to wastewater.

Wastewater exceedances historically have been a significant compliance issue for Baxter. The table below provides a breakdown of wastewater exceedances by type in 2008.

2008 WASTEWATER INCIDENTS
Type % of Total
Biochemical Oxygen Demand/ Chemical Oxygen Demand 38%
Chloride 15%
Flow* 12%
pH 11%
Oil and Grease 8%
Nitrogen/Nitrates 4%
Total Dissolved Solids 4%
Total Suspended Solids 4%
Other 4%

*The permitted volume of wastewater discharged from the facility

In 2008, more than 90 percent of Baxter's wastewater-related environmental incidents occurred at facilities that discharge to regional or municipal wastewater treatment systems, rather than directly to surface waterways, such as rivers, streams or creeks. The wastewater treatment systems further process the water, decreasing the impact that might occur otherwise. One incident occurred at our Sabinanigo, Spain, facility that discharges directly to a waterway. See Water and Wastewater for more detail.

To address wastewater compliance issues at facilities that discharge to regional or municipal wastewater treatment systems and to anticipate potential issues at others, Baxter’s environmental engineering group performs wastewater risk evaluations. See Water and Wastewater for detail.

The following table summarizes overall environmental incidents in 2008, by facility.

ENVIRONMENTAL INCIDENTS BY FACILITY IN 2008
Region/Country/State or Province City Description
Europe
Czech Republic Bohumil One wastewater incident related to nitrogen/nitrates
Ireland Castlebar Twelve wastewater incidents related to biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand and chloride; one air incident involving nitrogen oxide
Spain Sabinanigo One wastewater incident related to several parameters
Switzerland Effretikon Three wastewater incidents related to flow
North America
Canada, Ontario Alliston One spill of wastewater into the storm sewer
United States, California Hayward Three wastewater incidents related to biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand and suspended solids
United States, California Los Angeles One wastewater incident related to pH
United States, California Thousand Oaks Two wastewater incidents related to total dissolved solids and biochemical oxygen demand
United States, Illinois Round Lake One wastewater incident related to oil and grease
United States, Maryland Beltsville Two wastewater incidents related to pH
United States, North Carolina Marion
(North Cove)		 One wastewater incident related to oil and grease

 

Managing Waste Liability

To manage waste disposal appropriately and minimize the risk of future liability, since around 1990, Baxter has required facilities to dispose of all hazardous or other regulated waste at sites that Baxter has inspected or from which Baxter has otherwise received sufficient assurance of EHS performance. Based mostly on pre-1990 activities, Baxter has been notified of potential clean-up liability at some waste-disposal sites.

Baxter applies the same waste site auditing standards worldwide, and trains internal auditors so that they are able to evaluate disposal site risk consistently regardless of local customs and culture. In addition, a Baxter representative sits on the Board of Directors of CHWMEG, a non-profit organization in which companies cost-share to purchase waste site audits by experts. Baxter has been a main driver for expansion of CHWMEG audits overseas.

Baxter is involved as a potentially responsible party (PRP) for environmental clean-up costs at eight hazardous waste sites. Under the U.S. Superfund statute and many state laws, generators of hazardous waste sent to a disposal or recycling site are liable for site cleanup if contaminants from that property later leak into the environment. The laws generally provide that a PRP may be held jointly and severally liable for the costs of investigating and remediating the site. The estimated exposure to Baxter for the eight sites mentioned above is approximately $1.3 million.

Separate from the Superfund cases noted above, Baxter paid approximately $160,000 for remediation at Baxter facilities in 2008 and approximately $58,000 for investigation activities at a former facility that is not in the Superfund program, but for which Baxter agreed to conduct limited sampling.