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Otero County, Colorado: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Otero County is 149.9 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 238 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (69), Industrial wastewater discharge (48), Air permit holder (minor source) (44). 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: 37.9504, -103.7291.

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 Otero County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	22.3	17.9	1.25x	14.1 to 33.8	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	20.4	18.5	1.1x	12.6 to 31.3	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	149.9	143.2	1.05x	129.4 to 172.9	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	13.7	13.9	0.99x	8.3 to 22	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	28.7	30.2	0.95x	20.8 to 39.2	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	376.8	453.4	0.83x	342.2 to 414.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	37	51.8	0.71x	27.7 to 48.9	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	11.5	18.7	0.61x	6.7 to 19.2	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 Otero County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	13,765.9	9,842.6	+40%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	71.9	75.3	-4%	years
Child mortality	86.6	59.8	+45%	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	125.3	96.9	+29%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	29	28.6	+2%	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.

Formaldehyde10.52 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.59 per million
Acetaldehyde0.73 per million
Pahpom0.49 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing69
Industrial wastewater discharge48
Air permit holder (minor source)44
NPDES wastewater discharge permit38
Brownfield property13
Gas station (mapped facility)7
Scrapyard (mapped facility)5
Public airport3
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)3
Major air pollution source2
Small hazardous waste generator2
Commercial airport1
Heliport1
Oil-fired power plant1
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.

La Junta City Of, La Junta
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002041451 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Rocky Ford Sewage Lagoons, Rocky Ford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $15,702.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055971578 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Fowler Town Of-Filtration Plant, Fowler
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010054234 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Steir Fuel & Oil, Rocky Ford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110044221810 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
North La Junta Sd, La Junta
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055972728 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Rocky Ford, Rocky Ford
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 6516 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Aquila, Inc. - Rocky Ford Station, Rocky Ford
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022509294 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
La Junta Muni Utilities, La Junta
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022509846 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
La Junta Municipal Airport, La Junta
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110046319612 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Adams Wrecking, La Junta
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071850313 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
La Junta Gas Station, La Junta
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038716208 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Manzanola Train Station, Manzanola
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038754817 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
June Building, Rocky Ford
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038763291 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
122 Santa Fe Avenue, La Junta
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071978822 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
302 Colorado Avenue, La Junta
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071978823 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
406 Sunset Avenue, La Junta
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071978824 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
413.5 Sunset Avenue, La Junta
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071978825 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
517 Sunset Avenue, La Junta
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071978826 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
520 Prospect Avenue #4, La Junta
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071978827 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
618 Colorado Avenue, La Junta
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071978828 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
27496 Frontage Road, La Junta
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071979804 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
701 Sycamore, Rocky Ford
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071984576 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Former Travel Inn, La Junta
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072111360 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Rocky Ford Wwtf, Rocky Ford
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit CO0023850: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.8
Manzanola Wwtf, Otero County
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110023136738 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8

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 Otero 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 Otero 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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