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Clay County, Arkansas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Clay County is 219.4 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 134 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (54), Industrial wastewater discharge (31), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (26). 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: 36.3498, -90.4134.

How this county ranks in Arkansas

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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 Clay County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	60.4	30.2	2xSignificant	47.1 to 77	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	94.2	51.8	1.82xSignificant	76.9 to 114.7	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	29.6	17.9	1.65xSignificant	19.8 to 43.2	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	219.4	143.2	1.53xSignificant	192.8 to 249.3	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	26.5	18.5	1.43x	17 to 39.9	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	15.6	11.3	1.38x	9.1 to 25.8	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	17.9	14.5	1.23x	10.3 to 29.5	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	22.3	18.7	1.19x	14.5 to 33.6	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	530.6	453.4	1.17xSignificant	486.4 to 578.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	14.8	13.9	1.06x	8.5 to 24.9	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	18.6	23.8	0.78x	11.1 to 29.9	2019-2023

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 Clay County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,838.2	9,842.6	+10%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	72.8	75.3	-3%	years
Child mortality	96.6	59.8	+62%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	n/a	6.2	n/a	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	140.9	96.9	+45%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	n/a	28.6	n/a	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.

Formaldehyde21.92 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.95 per million
Acetaldehyde2.12 per million
Benzene0.71 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing54
Industrial wastewater discharge31
NPDES wastewater discharge permit26
Air permit holder (minor source)6
Gas station (mapped facility)6
Public airport4
Brownfield property2
Heliport2
Oil-fired power plant1
TRI reporting facility1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)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.

Municipal Light, Piggott
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 193 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Peco Foods - Corning Feed Mill, Corning
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110060244953 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Rector, City Of - Rector Wastewater Treatment Facility, Rector
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010067033 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
J. W. Black Lumber Company, Corning
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010064358 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Nimmons Wwtp, Nimmons
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009125044 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Old Wise Building In City Of Piggott, Piggott
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071971149 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Dave'S Bait Shop In City Of Peach Orchard, Peach Orchard
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071971150 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Saint Francis Wwtp, St. Francis
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055981816 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Greenway Wwtp, Greenway
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055981923 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Peco Foods Inc - Corning Feed Mill, Corning
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper compounds, Manganese compounds, Zinc compounds.
TRI facility ID 7242WPCFDS5CMME (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Pollard Wwtp, Pollard
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055982959 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Piggott, City Of, Piggott
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit AR0033472: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.4
Jones Septic Tank Cleaning, Montgomery
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010065240 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Corning, City Of - Corning Wastewater Treatment Plant, Corning
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010066560 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Knobel Wwtp, Knobel
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039814984 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Corning Muni, Corning
Public airport. O.
Record ID 4M9 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Piggott Muni, Piggott
Public airport. O.
Record ID 7M7 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Rector, Rector
Public airport. O.
Record ID 7M8 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Piggott Waterworks-Wtp 2 Standpipe, Piggott
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012997757 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Success Wwtp, Success
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055979981 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Nimmons, City Of, Nimmons
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit AR0042196: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.7
Corning High School, Corning
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110024980706 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hedger Brothers, Inc.-Piggott, Piggott
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037257358 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hedger Brothers-Corning, Corning
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037257367 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Edward L. Baker Enterprises, Inc., Corning
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110042386897 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5

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 Clay 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 Clay 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.

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