AR / county FIPS 05007 / county research

Benton County, Arkansas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Benton County is 141.1 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 1,777 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (754), Industrial wastewater discharge (659), Rail grade crossing (109). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 30 in a million, driven mainly by formaldehyde.

Rates are age-adjusted per 100,000 people. A cancer signal is marked significant when the lower bound of its 95 percent confidence interval is above the U.S. rate. Facility counts use active federal records located inside the county boundary. Approximate county center: 36.2992, -94.2276.

How this county ranks in Arkansas

View on the heat map Scan an address in this county

Cancer deaths and new cases versus the United States

Source: NCI and CDC State Cancer Profiles, both sexes, all ages. Sorted by the ratio of the county rate to the U.S. rate.

Cancer rates for Benton County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	36.6	23.8	1.54xSignificant	33.6 to 39.8	2019-2023
Esophagus	Deaths	4.5	3.7	1.22x	3.5 to 5.7	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	21.7	17.9	1.21xSignificant	19.4 to 24.1	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	22.4	18.7	1.2xSignificant	20.1 to 25	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	7.3	6.2	1.18x	6 to 8.8	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	5.6	4.8	1.17x	4.4 to 6.9	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	5	4.6	1.09x	3.9 to 6.2	2019-2023
Childhood cancer (under 15)	New cases	17.8	16.4	1.09x	13.5 to 23.1	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	Deaths	2.1	2	1.05x	1.4 to 3	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	9.1	8.7	1.05x	7.7 to 10.8	2019-2023
Bladder	Deaths	4.2	4.1	1.02x	3.3 to 5.4	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	30.9	30.2	1.02x	28.2 to 33.8	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	4.5	4.4	1.02x	3.6 to 5.7	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	52.3	51.8	1.01x	48.7 to 56	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	3.4	3.4	1x	2.6 to 4.5	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	447.9	453.4	0.99x	437.3 to 458.7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	141.1	143.2	0.99x	135.3 to 147.2	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	5.4	5.7	0.95x	4.2 to 6.7	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	6.2	6.6	0.94x	5.1 to 7.6	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	10.6	11.3	0.94x	9 to 12.4	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	11.9	13	0.92x	10.2 to 13.8	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	16.6	18.5	0.9x	14.7 to 18.8	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	13	14.5	0.9x	11.2 to 14.9	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	12.1	13.9	0.87x	10.4 to 14	2019-2023
Stomach	New cases	5.1	6.6	0.77x	4 to 6.4	2019-2023
Stomach	Deaths	1.6	2.7	0.59x	1 to 2.3	2020-2024

Mortality measures versus the U.S. county median

Source: County Health Rankings, built from CDC National Vital Statistics System death records. The comparison value is the median of all U.S. counties.

Mortality measures for Benton County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	6,948.5	9,842.6	-29%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	78.2	75.3	+4%	years
Child mortality	46.6	59.8	-22%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	5.7	6.2	-9%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	61.5	96.9	-37%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	14.5	28.6	-49%	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 30 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde21.74 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.86 per million
Acetaldehyde2.01 per million
Naphthalene1.19 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

No EPA air quality monitor reports daily AQI for this county.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

1,777 active records inside the county from EPA ECHO, TRI, Superfund, Brownfields, NPDES, EIA, FAA, FRA and corrections data.

NPDES wastewater discharge permit754
Industrial wastewater discharge659
Rail grade crossing109
Gas station (mapped facility)64
Air permit holder (minor source)51
Small hazardous waste generator27
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)22
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)21
TRI reporting facility18
Public airport12
Major air pollution source7
Heliport7
Large hazardous waste generator6
Brownfield property5
Commercial airport4
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)3
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)3
Crematorium (mapped facility)1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
Coal power plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1

Highest-severity records

The 25 records with the highest Envyrofax severity in the county, with the agency identifier to cite in a records request.

American Electric Power Flint Creek Plant, Gentry
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Barium And Barium Compounds, Barium compounds (except for barium sulfate (CAS No. 7727-43-7)), Hydrogen fluoride, Ammonia and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 1,680,879 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 72734FLNTC21797 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.3
Cobb-Vantress Inc. Feed Mill, Siloam Springs
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Formaldehyde. Reports carcinogens. 8,028 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 72761CBBVN2125C (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.5
Mac Holdings Inc Dba Mid-America Cabinets, Gentry
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Toluene. 83,564 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 72734MDMRCDAWNH (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.8
Southwestern Electric Power Company D/B/A Flint Creek Power Plant, Gentry
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000452910 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8
Tyson Poultry, Inc. /Tyson Distribution Center, Rogers
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia. 59,170 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 72756TYSND400WO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Simmons Prepared Foods- Benton County, Gentry
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $2,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070149656 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.7
Flint Creek, Gentry
Coal power plant.
Record ID 6138 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 6.5
Simmons Prepared Foods- Benton County, Gentry
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Peracetic acid, Ammonia. 20,085 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7273WSMMNS982SH (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.3
Bekaert Corp, Rogers
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Zinc compounds, Copper And Copper Compounds, Copper compounds. 9,964 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 72757BKRTXONEBE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.1
Ozark Mountain Poultry Inc, Rogers
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Peracetic acid, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution). 8,000 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7275WZRKMN8THEA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6
Tyson Foods - Chick-N-Quick / Tyson Distribution Center, Rogers
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007229267 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
Mac Holdings, Inc., Gentry
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000769384 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
Apac-Central, Inc., Springdale Ready Mix, Springdale
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Lead And Lead Compounds. 4,268 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7276WPCRKN4888N (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.8
Cobb - Vantress Feed Mill, Siloam Springs
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015582868 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.6
Ozark Mountain Poultry, Inc, Rogers
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025100584 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.6
Lowell Police Department, Lowell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $775.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020836951 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Tforce Freight - Springdale, Lowell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $860,400.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033643430 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Bekaert Steel Corporation, Rogers
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000453027 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Tyson Poultry, Inc - Tyson Of Rogers, Rogers
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000453018 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.4
Tyson Poultry Inc. - Tor, Rogers
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Peracetic acid. 1,111 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 72756TYSNG212EA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.3
Bentonville, City Of, Bentonville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020836862 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Decatur Wwtp, Decatur
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $6,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039810345 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Lowell Police Department, Lowell
Air permit holder (minor source). Penalties $775.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020836951 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Northwest Arkansas Ntl, Fayetteville/Springdale/Rogers
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID XNA (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 5
Apac-Central Inc. Sharps Asphalt, Springdale
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Polycyclic aromatic compounds, Benzo[g,h,i]perylene. Reports carcinogens. 3 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7276WSHRPS13585 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5

Correctional facilities

Prisons, jails and corrections operations with an EPA facility record, and the drinking water and wastewater compliance attached to them.

No correctional facility with an EPA record is located in this county.

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Benton County

Arkansas state cancer registry
Cancer incidence counts by census tract or ZIP code, by cancer type and year (de-identified). Any cancer cluster inquiries or investigations in Benton County, and their findings.
Arkansas vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
Arkansas health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
Arkansas environmental agency and the U.S. EPA regional office
Compliance history, inspection reports, notices of violation, penalties and enforcement actions for each facility above, cited by EPA FRS registry ID.
Arkansas drinking water program
Violation notices, sampling results and sanitary surveys for the public water systems serving the county, including any system serving a correctional facility.
Department of corrections or county sheriff
Water testing, grievances and environmental health inspections for the correctional facilities listed above.

Each Envyrofax address report includes a printable records request worksheet with the custodian and the exact request wording per finding.

Scan an address in Benton County View on the heat map All Arkansas counties