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Lawrence County, Arkansas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Lawrence County is 223.1 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 2.3 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 219 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (84), Industrial wastewater discharge (60), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (34). 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: 36.0693, -91.087.

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 Lawrence County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	68.7	30.2	2.27xSignificant	54.1 to 86.6	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	108.5	51.8	2.09xSignificant	90.2 to 129.8	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	30.8	18.5	1.66xSignificant	21.2 to 43.7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	223.1	143.2	1.56xSignificant	195.8 to 253.3	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	35.1	23.8	1.47x	23.4 to 50.5	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	26.9	18.7	1.44x	18.4 to 38.6	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	608.7	453.4	1.34xSignificant	561.8 to 658.6	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	23.6	17.9	1.32x	15.5 to 35.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	14.7	11.3	1.3x	8.2 to 24.6	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	17.7	13.9	1.27x	10.7 to 28	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	16.3	14.5	1.12x	9.2 to 27.1	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 Lawrence County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	14,246.2	9,842.6	+45%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	71.3	75.3	-5%	years
Child mortality	97.5	59.8	+63%	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	126	96.9	+30%	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.

Formaldehyde22.02 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.95 per million
Acetaldehyde2.21 per million
Benzene0.77 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing84
Industrial wastewater discharge60
NPDES wastewater discharge permit34
Gas station (mapped facility)14
Air permit holder (minor source)11
Brownfield property3
Scrapyard (mapped facility)3
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
TRI reporting facility2
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)2
Commercial airport1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1
Wastewater plant (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.

Frit Industries, Walnut Ridge
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000607870 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.5
Frit Industries, Walnut Ridge
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds, Manganese compounds, Copper compounds, Lead compounds and 1 more. 10,548 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 72476FRTNDINDUS (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.1
Walnut Ridge Ww Treatment Plnt, Walnut Ridge
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000730308 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Black Rock Ww Treatment Fac., Black Rock
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010065954 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Imboden, City Of-Wwtf, Imboden
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,400.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010066944 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Frit Industries, Walnut Ridge
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110000607870 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Eagan Manufacturing Co Inc, Black Rock
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022872042 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Portia Wastewater Treatment Plant, Portia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010065632 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Alicia, City Of, Alicia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025050370 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Walnut Ridge Regional Airport, Walnut Ridge
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025002529 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Undeveloped Parcel, Walnut Ridge
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071972028 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Imboden Propeerty, Imboden
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071972029 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Western Lawrence Co Wwt Dist, Lynn
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010064161 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Powhatan Quarry,Llc, Powhatan
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit ARG500022: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
Eagan Manufacturing Co Inc, Black Rock
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Diisocyanates.
TRI facility ID 72415GNMFG62EAG (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Martin Marietta Materials, Inc-Cavanaugh Quarry, Black Rock
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022550158 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Sedgwick, City Of, Sedgwick
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit AR0043443: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.5
Imboden, City Of-Wwtf, Imboden
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit AR0021628: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.4
Ravenden Wastewater Treatment Facility, Ravenden
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009124811 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Portia Wastewater Treatment Plant, Portia
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit AR0040355: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.1
Ravenden Wastewater Treatment Facility , Ravenden
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit AR0041254: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.1
Murphy Oil Usa, Inc. - Jonesboro, Walnut Ridge
Air permit holder (minor source). Penalties $400.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037574639 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Frit Industries, Walnut Ridge
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064124095 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Walnut Ridge Rgnl, Walnut Ridge
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID ARG (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Walnut Ridge Waste Treatement Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/491678956 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2

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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence 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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