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Sharp County, Arkansas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Sharp County is 180.7 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 1.6 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 104 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (33), Industrial wastewater discharge (28), Rail grade crossing (21). 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: 36.183, -91.513.

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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 Sharp County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	New cases	89.9	51.8	1.74xSignificant	75.8 to 106.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	49	30.2	1.62xSignificant	38.9 to 61.7	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	17.2	11.3	1.52x	10.6 to 26.9	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	20	13.9	1.44x	13 to 30.2	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	25.5	17.9	1.42x	16.7 to 37.7	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	24.4	18.7	1.3x	16.7 to 35.1	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	180.7	143.2	1.26xSignificant	159.3 to 204.8	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	21.7	18.5	1.17x	14.6 to 31.9	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	16.4	14.5	1.13x	9.5 to 26.7	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	489.1	453.4	1.08x	450.1 to 531.1	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	19.8	23.8	0.83x	12.2 to 30.7	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 Sharp County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	12,343.4	9,842.6	+25%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	73	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	100.4	96.9	+4%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	28.4	28.6	-1%	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.

Formaldehyde20.9 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.92 per million
Acetaldehyde2.04 per million
Pahpom0.79 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit33
Industrial wastewater discharge28
Rail grade crossing21
Gas station (mapped facility)12
Air permit holder (minor source)4
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)3
Commercial airport1
Brownfield property1
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.

Ash Flat Wwtp, Ash Flat
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055981255 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Hardy Wwtp, Hardy
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055981273 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
St. Joseph'S Utility Operating Company, Llc - Cherokee Village Wwtf, Cherokee Village
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,850.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010066640 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Highland Wwtp, Cherokee Village
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,300.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056001204 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Eastern Ozarks Regional Hospital, Cherokee Village
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025040435 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Ash Flat, City Of - Wastewater Treatment Facility, Ash Flat
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit AR0041742: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.7
Sharp County Rgnl, Ash Flat
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID CVK (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Biggs Auto Salvage, Mammoth Spring
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110024949797 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Arkansas Quality Stone Company, Ash Flat
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110024950490 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
City Of Ash Flat, Ash Flat
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025085823 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Biggs Hardware & Auto Supply, Mammoth Spring
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033010514 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
East Cave City Quarry, Cave City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056992358 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Walling Farms, Cave City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110058231916 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dail'S Poultry Farm, Ravenden
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110063235574 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dexter Huckabee, Poughkeepsie
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110063977610 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Brink Poultry Farm, Hardy
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110063977638 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hilltop 5 Farms, Cave City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064436695 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Grady Adams Farm, Cave City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064500044 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Edwardson Farms, Cave City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110066861685 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Carter Family Heritage Trust, Evening Shade
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067174694 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Austin Davis Broiler Houses, Williford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067458012 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Jim Swinford - Grace Manor Apartments, Williford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069217859 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Circle K Broiler Houses, Ash Flat
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069227376 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Ozark Acres Water Treatment Facility, Williford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069344276 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Wright Poultry, Cave City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070149680 (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 Sharp 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 Sharp 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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