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Wapello County, Iowa: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Wapello County is 181.9 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Bladder deaths at 1.8 times the U.S. rate and Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.7 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 297 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (84), Industrial wastewater discharge (41), Air permit holder (minor source) (40). 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: 41.0309, -92.4096.

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 Wapello County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Bladder	Deaths	7.4	4.1	1.8xSignificant	4.2 to 12.2	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	52.7	30.2	1.75xSignificant	43.8 to 63	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	7.9	4.6	1.72x	4.5 to 12.9	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	83	51.8	1.6xSignificant	71.8 to 95.7	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	29.3	18.7	1.57xSignificant	22.7 to 37.5	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	8.7	5.7	1.53x	5.2 to 13.7	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	9.1	6.6	1.38x	5.7 to 13.9	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6.5	4.8	1.35x	3.7 to 10.9	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	19.6	14.5	1.35x	14.1 to 26.5	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	23.6	18.5	1.28x	17.4 to 31.3	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	181.9	143.2	1.27xSignificant	164.9 to 200.3	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	10.4	8.7	1.2x	6.7 to 15.7	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	521.8	453.4	1.15xSignificant	492 to 553.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	13	11.3	1.15x	8.8 to 18.7	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	14.8	13	1.14x	9.7 to 21.6	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	19.7	17.9	1.1x	14.3 to 26.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	13.4	13.9	0.96x	9.1 to 19.1	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	17.5	23.8	0.74x	12.3 to 24.3	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 Wapello County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	9,638.2	9,842.6	-2%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	74.5	75.3	-1%	years
Child mortality	47.2	59.8	-21%	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	79.8	96.9	-18%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	11.4	28.6	-60%	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.

Formaldehyde16.68 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.96 per million
Acetaldehyde1.54 per million
Benzene0.8 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing84
Industrial wastewater discharge41
Air permit holder (minor source)40
Brownfield property37
Gas station (mapped facility)24
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)20
NPDES wastewater discharge permit19
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)7
TRI reporting facility6
Major air pollution source4
Large greenhouse gas emitter3
Small hazardous waste generator3
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)2
Public airport1
Commercial airport1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Hazardous waste transporter1
Heliport1
Coal power plant1
Hydroelectric plant1

Highest-severity records

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

Cargill Corn Milling, Eddyville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), n-Hexane, Acetaldehyde, Methanol and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 4,040,602 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 52553CRGLLRR1CO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.6
Ottumwa Generating Station, Ottumwa
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Hydrogen fluoride, Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Barium compounds (except for barium sulfate (CAS No. 7727-43-7)) and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 380,504 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 52501TTMWG20775 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.8
John Deere Ottumwa Works, Ottumwa
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: sec-Butyl alcohol, Ethylene glycol, Lead. Reports carcinogens. 72,291 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 52501JHNDR928EA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.2
Jbs Pork, Ottumwa
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Ammonia. 3,132,333 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 52501XCLCRSOUTH (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8
Praxis Mid America, Ottumwa
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene. Reports carcinogens. 17,385 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 50501NVRSL2908N (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.8
Cargill Meat Solutions Corp, Ottumwa
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000415220 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.7
Ipl - Ottumwa Generating Station, Ottumwa
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000415202 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.6
American Bath Group, Ottumwa
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000413491 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8
Wacker Chemical Corp, Eddyville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Toluene. 76,092 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 52553WCKRB1WACK (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Ottumwa, Ottumwa
Coal power plant.
Record ID 6254 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 6.7
Ideal Ready Mix - Ottumwa, Ottumwa
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens. 285 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 5250WDLRDY291NR (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.4
John Deere Ottumwa Works, Ottumwa
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010507852 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
Ideal Ready Mix - Ottumwa, Ottumwa
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071908891 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.1
Ipl - Ottumwa Generating Station, Ottumwa
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000415202 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
American Bath Group, Ottumwa
Major air pollution source. Penalties $10,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000413491 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Ipl - Ottumwa Generating Station, Ottumwa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000415202 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Ipl - Ottumwa Generating Station, Ottumwa
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000415202 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Cargill Meat Solutions Corp, Ottumwa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000415220 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Cargill Hedrick Feed Mill, Fremont
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064459713 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Cardinal School Stp, Eldon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006777069 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Valley Village Mobile Home Cou, Ottumwa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009724977 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Eddyville, City Of Stp, Eddyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039691857 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Mtbt - Ottumwa, Ottumwa
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071642697 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Cargill Meat Solutions Corp, Ottumwa
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000415220 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Ottumwa City Of Stp, Ottumwa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001362034 (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 Wapello 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 Wapello 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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