Section 12. HAZARDOUS AND TOXIC WASTES
EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO HAZARDOUS WASTE SPILLS IN THE
METROPOLITAN SANITARY DISTRICT OF GREATER CHICAGO
Cecil Lue-Hing, Director of Research and Development
David T. Lordi. Coordinator of Technical Services
Stanley W. Whitebloom, Coordinator of Industrial Wastes
Research and Development Laboratory
Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago
Chicago, Illinois 60611
The Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago (MSDGC) was organized in 1889
and under its current charter, has the responsibdity of providing sewage collection and
treatment service for an area of approximately 860 square mdes, including the City of
Chicago and 124 surrounding communities. The MSDGC serves a connected domestic population of about 5.5 mdlion, plus an industrial sector with a waste load equivalent to about
4.5 mdlion population. The MSDGC operates and maintains six wastewater treatment plants
that treat approximately 1.5 bdlion gallons per day of combined industrial domestic wastewaters. All of the plants are biological activated sludge systems, with some including biological nitrification and dual media filtration.
The MSDGC is also responsible for enforcing applicable state and federal water quality
regulations along 72 mdes of navigable inland waterways, over 200 mdes of small rivers and
streams, and 36 mdes of Lake Michigan shoreline.
Industrial Activities Within MSDGC
The State of Illinois ranks second nationally in terms of the percent of industrial flow to
municipal systems with 43 percent industrial flow, based on U.S. EPA estimates [1], whde
the County of Cook, the political jurisdiction of the MSDGC ranks first in terms of total
costs of shipments of manufactured goods for 1979 [21. A substantial portion of these
industrial activities is conducted within the MSDGC area and covers a wide spectrum from
iron and steel manufacturing to household appliances. Out of approximately I 2,000 industries within the MSDGC area, 6,000 are classified as wet industries, that is, discharging some
process wastewater and/or cooling water. A number of these industries use or produce
materials which fall within the categories of toxic or hazardous materials.
Industrial Waste Control Program
Control of industrial waste discharges is provided through monitoring and enforcement
by the Industrial Waste Division (IWD) of the Research and Development Department (R&D)
of the MSDGC. The MSDGC Sewage and Waste Control Ordinance, adopted in 1969, includes concentration limits for 14 contaminants and 9 limiting conditions for discharge of
industrial waste to the sanitary sewer system. In addition, the ordinance provides concentration limits for 26 contaminants and 7 limiting conditions for direct discharges to the
waterways in its jurisdiction.
The IWD has the primary responsibility for responding, investigating, supervising, and
monitoring in the event of a hazardous material spill. The IWD has a staff of 105 persons
including pollution control officers, engineers, water samplers and clerical personnel. The
Division has 30 radio equipped vehicles and also employs a helicopter, two patrol boats,
six trailers, and various other types of detection, monitoring and sampling equipment. The
R&D Department also employs an additional 200 professional and support personnel in its
three laboratories.
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