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Butler County, Iowa: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Butler County is 136.1 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 180 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (99), Air permit holder (minor source) (24), Industrial wastewater discharge (14). 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: 42.7377, -92.7902.

How this county ranks in Iowa

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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 Butler County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	32.2	17.9	1.8xSignificant	21.3 to 46.9	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	30.5	18.7	1.63xSignificant	21.1 to 43.4	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	20.8	13	1.6x	11.5 to 34.5	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	37	23.8	1.55xSignificant	25.9 to 51.7	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	18.9	14.5	1.3x	10.8 to 31	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	548.7	453.4	1.21xSignificant	502.5 to 598.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	62.5	51.8	1.21x	48.7 to 79.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	16.5	13.9	1.19x	9.7 to 27.1	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	20.1	18.5	1.09x	12.3 to 31.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	30.6	30.2	1.01x	20.7 to 44.1	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	136.1	143.2	0.95x	114.7 to 160.7	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 Butler County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	5,242.6	9,842.6	-47%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	79.6	75.3	+6%	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	61.2	96.9	-37%	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: 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.

Formaldehyde13.99 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.95 per million
Acetaldehyde1.25 per million
Benzene0.75 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing99
Air permit holder (minor source)24
Industrial wastewater discharge14
NPDES wastewater discharge permit12
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)6
Gas station (mapped facility)5
TRI reporting facility5
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)5
Major air pollution source3
Large greenhouse gas emitter2
Large hazardous waste generator2
Public airport1
Small hazardous waste generator1
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.

Poet Biorefining - Shell Rock Ethanol, Shell Rock
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110030490494 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 10
Shell Rock Soy Processing, Shell Rock
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070924564 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9.5
Unverferth Manufacturing Company, Inc, Shell Rock
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $12,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000413829 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9
Poet Biorefining - Shell Rock Llc, Shell Rock
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Acetaldehyde, Formic acid, Acrolein, Methanol and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 346,354 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 50670HWKYS37521 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.8
Zinpro Corp, Shell Rock
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds, Manganese compounds, Copper compounds, Manganese And Manganese Compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 109,631 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 5060WZNPRC2181L (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.4
Unverferth Manufacturing Company, Inc, Shell Rock
Major air pollution source. Penalties $12,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000413829 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Shell Rock Soy Processing Llc, Shell Rock
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: n-Hexane. 689,326 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 5067WSHLLR33422 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.5
Poet Biorefining - Shell Rock Ethanol, Shell Rock
Major air pollution source. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110030490494 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.3
Unverferth Manufacturing Company, Inc, Shell Rock
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $12,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000413829 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Unverferth Manufacturing Company, Inc, Shell Rock
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $12,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000413829 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Poet Biorefining - Shell Rock Ethanol, Shell Rock
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110030490494 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8
Unverferth Manufacturing Co Inc Brent Div, Shell Rock
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese, Aluminum (fume or dust), Cobalt, Nickel and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 500 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 50670NVRFRCOUNT (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.6
Zinpro Corp - Shell Rock, Shell Rock
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110058895432 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Shell Rock Soy Processing, Shell Rock
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070924564 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Poet Biorefining - Shell Rock Ethanol, Shell Rock
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110030490494 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.3
Shell Rock Soy Processing, Shell Rock
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070924564 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Shell Rock Soy Processing, Shell Rock
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070924564 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Feldmeier Equipment Inc, Shell Rock
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nickel, Chromium. Reports carcinogens. 10 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 50670FLDMR32682 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.3
Dumont City Of Stp, Dumont
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010034989 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Feldmeier Equipment Inc, Shell Rock
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001409280 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
New Hartford City Of Stp, New Hartford
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071710402 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Shell Rock Wwtp, Shell Rock
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010035014 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Greene City Of Stp, Greene
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010034391 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Trinityrail Maintenance Services Inc 4036, Shell Rock
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070604337 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Allison City Of Stp, Allison
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010033579 (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 Butler County

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