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Montrose County, Colorado: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Montrose County is 125.8 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Melanoma of the skin deaths at 2.4 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 593 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (209), Industrial wastewater discharge (155), Air permit holder (minor source) (93). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 20 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: 38.3827, -108.2801.

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 Montrose County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Melanoma of the skin	Deaths	4.8	2	2.4xSignificant	2.7 to 8.2	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	30.5	23.8	1.28xSignificant	24.1 to 38.2	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	7.3	6.2	1.18x	4.3 to 11.7	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	21.1	18.7	1.13x	16.8 to 26.4	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	5.6	5.7	0.98x	3.3 to 9.1	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	404.3	453.4	0.89x	381.5 to 428.2	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	125.8	143.2	0.88x	114.4 to 138.2	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	4.2	4.8	0.88x	2.4 to 7.1	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	3.9	4.6	0.85x	2.2 to 6.8	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	25.3	30.2	0.84x	20.5 to 31	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	10.6	13	0.82x	6.5 to 16.2	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	14.9	18.5	0.81x	10.9 to 20	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	40.4	51.8	0.78x	34.1 to 47.7	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	11.2	14.5	0.77x	7.8 to 15.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	9	13.9	0.65x	6.3 to 12.9	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	11.1	17.9	0.62x	7.4 to 16.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	6.6	11.3	0.58x	4.3 to 10	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	4.9	8.7	0.56x	2.7 to 8.4	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 Montrose County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	8,864.3	9,842.6	-10%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	77.9	75.3	+3%	years
Child mortality	68.9	59.8	+15%	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	137.5	96.9	+42%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	24.6	28.6	-14%	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 20 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde9.98 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.44 per million
Acetaldehyde0.85 per million
Benzene0.66 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit209
Industrial wastewater discharge155
Air permit holder (minor source)93
Rail grade crossing44
Gas station (mapped facility)25
Brownfield property21
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)11
Small hazardous waste generator7
Heliport7
Hydroelectric plant7
Public airport4
Major air pollution source3
Commercial airport2
Large greenhouse gas emitter2
Solar power plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
Superfund (NPL) site1

Highest-severity records

The 25 records with the highest Envyrofax severity in the county, with the agency identifier to cite in a records request.

Uravan Uranium Project (Union Carbide Corp.), Uravan
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 43.5. NPL Site.
EPA site ID COD007063274 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Nucla Wwtf, Nucla
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $16,250.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070214913 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
City Of Montrose Wastewater Treatment Plant, Montrose
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000730941 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Montrose Rgnl, Montrose
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID MTJ (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 5
Ts Landfill, Llc - Broad Canyon Landfill, Redvale
Major air pollution source. Penalties $14,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040482938 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Montrose Forest Products Llc, Montrose
Major air pollution source. Penalties $14,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110057240926 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Western Fuels Company New Horizon, Nucla
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002993324 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Montrose Regional Airport Terminal Expansion, Montrose
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018871158 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Montrose City Of, Montrose
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110044271784 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Recla Metals, Montrose
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110046324946 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
R-34 Pit, Montrose
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069997685 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Allen Pit, Redvale
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070063552 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Base Products, Montrose
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070072753 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Gray Pit 2, Montrose
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070072875 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Two Feathers Pit, Montrose
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070097745 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Hopkins Field Airport, Nucla
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070152675 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Cotter Corp Western Slope Ops Office, Nucla
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070161434 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Montrose Forest Products Llc, Montrose
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $14,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110057240926 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Van 4 Shaft Monogram Mesa, Montrose County
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069416331 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
J Bird Mine, Montrose County
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069418990 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Prince Albert Mine, Uravan
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069422690 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Montrose Co Recycling Center, Montrose
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070152690 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Encana (West) - Hamilton Creek Cs, Naturita, 8.5 Mi Se Of
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110031485612 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Waste Mgmt - Montrose County Landfill, Montrose
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017685067 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Naturita, Town Of, Naturita
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056004425 (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 Montrose 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 Montrose 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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