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Independence County, Arkansas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Independence County is 150.9 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 356 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (131), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (87), Rail grade crossing (62). 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: 35.7325, -91.5821.

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 Independence County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Esophagus	New cases	6.4	4.6	1.39x	3.7 to 10.6	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	7.6	5.7	1.33x	4.5 to 12.2	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	31.1	23.8	1.31xSignificant	24.2 to 39.4	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	65.4	51.8	1.26xSignificant	55.8 to 76.3	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	22.1	17.9	1.23x	16.2 to 29.6	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	35.5	30.2	1.18x	28.5 to 43.8	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	20.9	18.7	1.12x	15.5 to 27.7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	150.9	143.2	1.05x	135.8 to 167.3	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	19.1	18.5	1.03x	14 to 25.6	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	14.8	14.5	1.02x	10.1 to 21.1	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	457.4	453.4	1.01x	430 to 486.1	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	6.3	6.6	0.95x	3.7 to 10.4	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	7.7	11.3	0.68x	4.6 to 12.3	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	8.2	13.9	0.59x	5.1 to 12.7	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 Independence County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	11,068.1	9,842.6	+12%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	73.4	75.3	-2%	years
Child mortality	59.1	59.8	-1%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	6.2	6.2	-0%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	79.9	96.9	-18%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	14.1	28.6	-51%	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.

Formaldehyde22.57 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.93 per million
Acetaldehyde2.19 per million
Benzene0.82 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge131
NPDES wastewater discharge permit87
Rail grade crossing62
Air permit holder (minor source)20
Gas station (mapped facility)12
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)9
TRI reporting facility8
Major air pollution source5
Small hazardous waste generator4
Large greenhouse gas emitter3
Public airport2
Brownfield property2
Large hazardous waste generator2
Hydroelectric plant2
Commercial airport1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Hazardous waste transporter1
Heliport1
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.

Independence Steam Electric Station, Newark
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Barium And Barium Compounds, Barium compounds (except for barium sulfate (CAS No. 7727-43-7)), Hydrogen fluoride, Sulfuric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size) and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 3,263,629 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 72562NRGYN555PO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.5
Futurefuel Chemical Co, Batesville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Methanol, Chlorine and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 1,309,800 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 72503RKNSSSTATE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.2
Arkansas Lime Co, Batesville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Vanadium compounds, Lead compounds, Nickel compounds and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 134,722 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 72503RKNSS600LI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.4
Independence Steam Electric Station, Newark
Coal power plant.
Record ID 6641 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 7.7
Ozark Mountain Poultry Batesville Processing, Batesville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Peracetic acid, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution). 62,367 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7250WZRKMN181ST (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Independence Plant, Newark
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000452705 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.7
Futurefuel Chemical Company, Batesville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017432937 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Ozark Mountain Poultry Batesville Processing, Batesville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070559701 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
Custom Craft Poultry Llc, Batesville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Peracetic acid. 681 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7250WCSTMCPBX24 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.2
Arkansas Lime Company, Batesville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001711997 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.2
Custom Craft Poultry, Llc, Batesville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071074579 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.1
Lacroix Precision Optics, Batesville
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $1,056.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000452616 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Sulphur Rock Wwtp, Sulphur Rock
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055983574 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Flowers Baking Co. Of Batesville, Batesville
Major air pollution source. Penalties $720.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064225725 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Konya Sands Llc - Konya Sands Cave City, Cave City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $875.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070554872 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Townsends Of Arkansas Newark Feed Mill, Newark
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000452714 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Peco Foods, Inc., Batesville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000513953 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Omp Farms, Llc, Magness
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110062846684 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Flowers Baking Co. Of Batesville, Batesville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $720.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064225725 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
White Rodgers/Emerson Electric, Batesville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000452625 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Independence Plant, Newark
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000452705 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Arkansas Lime Company, Batesville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001711997 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Futurefuel Chemical Company, Batesville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017432937 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Pfeiffer One Stop, Inc., Batesville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,400.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025093342 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
The Pleasant Plains Dairy Bar, Pleasant Plains
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070571303 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5

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 Independence 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 Independence 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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