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Lake County, Colorado: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Lake County is 90.5 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 165 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (60), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (51), Air permit holder (minor source) (18). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 10 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: 39.2184, -106.3356.

How this county ranks in Colorado

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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 Lake 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	34.9	23.8	1.47x	19.5 to 58.6	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	350.1	453.4	0.77x	294.6 to 413.6	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	90.5	143.2	0.63x	61.1 to 129.2	2020-2024

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 Lake County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	7,782.8	9,842.6	-21%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	81.3	75.3	+8%	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	111.2	96.9	+15%	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: 10 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde6.6 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.13 per million
Acetaldehyde0.43 per million
Pahpom0.36 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge60
NPDES wastewater discharge permit51
Air permit holder (minor source)18
Brownfield property14
Gas station (mapped facility)5
Rail grade crossing5
Heliport2
Major air pollution source1
Commercial airport1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Hydroelectric plant1
Pumped storage plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
Superfund (NPL) site1
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.

California Gulch, Leadville
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 55.8. NPL Site.
EPA site ID COD980717938 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Climax Molybdenum Co-Climax Mine, Climax
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead And Lead Compounds, Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Zinc compounds, Chromium and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 11,915,217 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 8042WCLMXMHIGHW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.9
Climax Molybdenum, Climax
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110046122851 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Leadville Sanitation District, Leadville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012361336 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Black Cloud Mine, Leadville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064517820 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Mountain Valley Estates Wwtp, Leadville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $28,800.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070266156 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Mountain View Village West, Leadville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006780929 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Lake County Landfill, Leadville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022509891 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Moose Haven Condominums, Lake County
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013812106 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Large Group Waste Dumps, Leadville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069426375 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Hopemore Shaft, Leadville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069476061 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Willow Creek Mine, Lake County
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069485426 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Village At East Fork, Leadville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013181984 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Lake County Landfill, Leadville
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110022509891 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Lake Fork Mhp, Leadville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010705102 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Lake County Landfill, Leadville Area
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071723999 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Leadville National Fish Hatchery, Leadville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006658036 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Upper Arkansas River Brownfields Projects-Up. Ak. River/Pub. Lndowners, Leadville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015334299 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Cloud City Conservation Center, Leadville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071972953 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
West Park Site, Leadville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071977123 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Klucik Property, Leadville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071977124 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
16th Street Right-Of-Way, Leadville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071979162 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Llrha Vacant Lots 600 E. 8th St, Leadville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071980793 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Parkville Water District Equipment Storage Yard, Leadville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071982059 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Llrha 825 W. 6th St, Leadville
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071983737 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3

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 Lake County

Colorado 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 Lake County, and their findings.
Colorado vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
Colorado health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
Colorado 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.
Colorado 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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