IA / county FIPS 19115 / county research

Louisa County, Iowa: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Louisa County is 163.6 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.6 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 97 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (33), Industrial wastewater discharge (21), Air permit holder (minor source) (13). 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: 41.2477, -91.2997.

How this county ranks in Iowa

View on the heat map Scan an address in this county

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 Louisa County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	48	30.2	1.59xSignificant	33.8 to 67	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	80.1	51.8	1.55xSignificant	61.5 to 103.2	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	33	23.8	1.39x	20.8 to 50.3	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	23.3	18.7	1.25x	13.6 to 38	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	163.6	143.2	1.14x	135.4 to 196.7	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	517.5	453.4	1.14xSignificant	465.6 to 574.2	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	20	17.9	1.12x	11.1 to 34	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 Louisa County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	6,584.2	9,842.6	-33%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	78.7	75.3	+4%	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	78.7	96.9	-19%	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.

Formaldehyde16.31 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.97 per million
Acetaldehyde1.53 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

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

Rail grade crossing33
Industrial wastewater discharge21
Air permit holder (minor source)13
NPDES wastewater discharge permit13
Gas station (mapped facility)3
TRI reporting facility3
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)3
Major air pollution source2
Large greenhouse gas emitter2
Small hazardous waste generator1
Coal power plant1
Solar 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.

Midamerican Energy - Louisa Generating Station, Muscatine
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000415783 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9.5
Midamerican Energy-Louisa Generating Station, Muscatine
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Barium And Barium Compounds, Vanadium compounds, Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Copper And Copper Compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 1,668,448 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 52761LSGNR86021 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.3
Tyson Fresh Meats Inc-Louisa County, Columbus Junction
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Ammonia, Hydrogen sulfide, Peracetic acid and 1 more. 7,554,652 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 52738BPNCXHWY70 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.3
Tyson Fresh Meats, Columbus Junction
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110044210831 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.9
Louisa, Muscatine
Coal power plant.
Record ID 6664 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 6.7
Midamerican Energy - Louisa Generating Station, Muscatine
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000415783 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Midamerican Energy - Louisa Generating Station, Muscatine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000415783 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Wapello City Of Stp, Wapello
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039691438 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Midamerican Energy - Louisa Generating Station, Muscatine
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000415783 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Woodland Mobile Home Park, Wapello
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070104278 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Morning Sun City Of Stp, Morning Sun
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110036353816 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Louisa Co. Law Enforcement Center, Wapello
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071224125 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Trioak Foods Inc - Feed Mill, Oakville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000526903 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Natural Gas Pipeline Co Of America - Station 204, Columbus Junction
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110036351051 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. - Columbus Junction, Columbus Junction
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071710362 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Grandview City Of Stp, Grandview
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009724414 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Natural Gas Pipeline Co Of America - Station 204, Columbus Junction
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110036351051 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Trioak Foods Llc - Feed Mill, Oakville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds.
TRI facility ID 5264WTRKFD13WES (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Morning Sun City Of Stp, Morning Sun
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IA0059587: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.9
Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. - Columbus Junction, Columbus Junction
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IA0003361: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.8
Natural Gas Pipeline Co Of America - Station 204, Columbus Junction
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110036351051 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Columbus Junction City Of Stp, Columbus Junction
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110036380145 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Midamerican Energy Co. - Louisa Station, Muscatine
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IA0063282: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.5
Grandview City Of Stp, Grandview
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IA0062901: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.4
Letts City Of Stp, Letts
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039690983 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2

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 Louisa 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 Louisa 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.

Scan an address in Louisa County View on the heat map All Iowa counties