FUNCTIONAL DESIGN OF A ZERO-DISCHARGE WASTEWATER
TREATMENT SYSTEM FOR THE NATIONAL CENTER
FOR TOXICOLOGICAL RESEARCH
David C. Kennedy, Senior Associate
Mark A. Kimler, Senior Environmental Engineer
Carol A. Hammer, Senior Environmental Scientist
Ryckman/Edgerley/Tomlinson & Associates, Inc.
St. Louis, Missouri 63141
INTRODUCTION
Ryckman/Edgerley/Tomlinson & Associates, Inc. (RETA), is currently under contract
with the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare to solve a critical environmental problem associated with operation of the National Center for Toxicological
Research (NCTR).
NCTR is a major government research laboratory operated for and by the Food and
Drug Administration.   It is located about 30 miles south of Little Rock, Arkansas, adjacent to the Pine Bluff Army Arsenal.   NCTR is rapidly becoming a prime focus for the
nation's research efforts in toxicology.   The FDA is in the process of concentrating all
their basic toxicological research on drugs, food additives, etc., at NCTR.   The current
NCTR facilities were previously a top-secret U.S. Army installation for the manufacture
of biological warfare agents.   In 1969, when the U.S. renounced biological warfare, the
facility was decommissioned and left idle until it was turned over to HEW and recom-
missioned as the NCTR in 1973.   A major effort is being made to re-outfit the facility
for research.   Currently only about 15% of the facility is utilized for research; the remainder will be occupied over the next 3 years.
The heart of NCTR is "A Barrier." Here, thousands of special, genetic strains of mice
are bred, raised and maintained in a germ-free environment.   These mice are employed in
long-term, chronic feeding studies lasting as long as 2 years.   In these studies, FDA is
trying to quantify the toxicological response to chronic, low-level intake of drugs and
food additives.   The lack of such information has been a major problem in certifying
drugs and food additives,as evidenced by the recent controversies over cyclamates and
Red Dye No. 2.
Over the next few years, additional "Barriers" will be commissioned.   The remaining
active facilities are devoted to support facilities (including animal handling), diet preparation, pathology, analytical development, etc.   Most of the complex is currently unoccupied.
Current and future NCTR programs and compounds being evaluated are summarized
in Table I.   In summarizing these programs, we see an emphasis on carcinogenic and
mutagenic compounds.   Only four to five compounds are being studied now with 15%
utilization of the facility.   In three years, there will be a five-fold increase in activity
with scores of toxic compounds being studied.
The problem posed by the NCTR lies in the fate of these toxic compounds.   They
are discharged in wastes that pose disposal problems.   Solids wastes are already fairly
well isolated and incinerated.   However, the NCTR currently generates 250,000 gal/day
of wastewater which contains trace levels of toxic compounds.   If no controls were to
be implemented, in a few years NCTR would be one of the nation's major dischargers
of carcinogenic and other toxic compounds.   Obviously this will not be allowed to happen as is reflected in the NCTR NPDES permit:   "After July 1, 1977. . ., no research
chemicals being used in toxicity studies at the National Center for Toxicological Research
shall be discharged. . ."
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