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Prairie County, Arkansas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Prairie County is 175.2 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. Federal databases place 108 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (44), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (30), Air permit holder (minor source) (10). 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: 34.7856, -91.5347.

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 Prairie 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	48.4	23.8	2.03xSignificant	28.9 to 76	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	30.8	17.9	1.72x	16.7 to 52.5	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	79.5	51.8	1.53xSignificant	60.2 to 104.8	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	41.6	30.2	1.38x	28.1 to 61.1	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	175.2	143.2	1.22xSignificant	144.4 to 211.9	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	502.4	453.4	1.11x	444 to 567	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 Prairie County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	12,114.5	9,842.6	+23%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	72.8	75.3	-3%	years
Child mortality	n/a	59.8	n/a	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	104.2	96.9	+7%	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.

Formaldehyde23.76 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.95 per million
Acetaldehyde2.38 per million
Pahpom0.7 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge44
NPDES wastewater discharge permit30
Air permit holder (minor source)10
Rail grade crossing7
Gas station (mapped facility)6
Public airport4
Major air pollution source2
Commercial airport1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Large hazardous waste generator1
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.

White River Energetics, Llc, Des Arc
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071368324 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.3
White River Energetics Llc, Des Arc
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead And Lead Compounds, Lead compounds, Copper. 200 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7204WWHTRV14227 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.8
Rolling Meadows Landfill, Hazen
Major air pollution source. Penalties $1,680.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072238481 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Robert Miller, Griffithville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067218718 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
White River Energetics, Llc, Des Arc
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071368324 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Stuttgart Composting Yard, Stuttgart
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025344116 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Stuttgart Composting Yard, Stuttgart
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025344116 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Keith Harris, Stuttgart
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067133211 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Rolling Meadows Landfill Inc, Hazen
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007229052 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Devalls Bluff, City Of, De Valls Bluff
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010066187 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Ulm Wwtp, Ulm
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055978143 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Hazen Wwtp, Hazen
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055978134 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
White River Energetics, Llc, Des Arc
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071368324 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Des Arc, City Of, Des Arc
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit AR0022225: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.7
Patterson Hardwoods, Inc., Des Arc
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056118286 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
East Prairie County Pwa-Hwy 38, Des Arc
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013248299 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Cathy Harrison, Des Arc
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071821785 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Stuttgart, City Of - Class Iv Landfill, North Stuttgart
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit ARG160044: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2
Rolling Meadows Landfill Inc, Hazen
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007229052 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Stuttgart, City Of - Class Iv Landfill, North Stuttgart
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043728614 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Koss Construction Company - Koss Construction Company Plant #246, Hazen
Air permit holder (minor source). Penalties $700.
EPA FRS registry ID 110044302723 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Hazen Muni David Duch Fld, Hazen
Public airport. O.
Record ID 6M0 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Stuttgart Muni Carl Humphrey Fld, Stuttgart
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID SGT (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Ulm, City Of , Ulm
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit AR0038008: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.9
East Prairie Co. Public Water Authority, Des Arc
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit ARG640082: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.9

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 Prairie 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 Prairie 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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