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Alexander County, Illinois: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Alexander County is 242.2 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 2.6 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 87 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (28), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (17), Rail grade crossing (16). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 30 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: 37.1536, -89.3477.

How this county ranks in Illinois

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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 Alexander County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	79	30.2	2.62xSignificant	54.3 to 114	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	108.1	51.8	2.09xSignificant	79.5 to 146.3	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	242.2	143.2	1.69xSignificant	196.5 to 297.7	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	576.5	453.4	1.27xSignificant	498.4 to 664.8	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 Alexander County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	16,047.8	9,842.6	+63%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	69.7	75.3	-7%	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	139.7	96.9	+44%	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: 30 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde21.14 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.96 per million
Acetaldehyde2.06 per million
Ethylene Oxide0.92 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge28
NPDES wastewater discharge permit17
Rail grade crossing16
Air permit holder (minor source)9
Brownfield property2
Combined sewer overflow outfall2
Large hazardous waste generator2
Major air pollution source1
Commercial airport1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Gas station (mapped facility)1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
TRI reporting facility1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)1
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.

Bunge Chevron Ag Renewables Llc, Cairo
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: n-Hexane. 3,024,731 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 62914BNGCR304TH (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8
Bunge Chevron Ag Renewables, Llc, Cairo
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $91,418.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000439918 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.9
Cairo Stp, City Of, Cairo
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001104037 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Bunge Chevron Ag Renewables, Llc, Cairo
Major air pollution source. Penalties $91,418.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000439918 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Covia Specialty Minerals Inc. - Elco Plant, Elco
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007546290 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Anna Ready Mix Inc, Cairo
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010007642 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Cairo Stp, City Of, Cairo
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit IL0023825:002 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Cairo Stp, City Of, Cairo
Combined sewer overflow outfall. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit IL0023825:003 (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 4
Bunge Chevron Ag Renewables, Llc, Cairo
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $91,418.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000439918 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
East Cape Girardeau, East Cape Girardeau
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009736857 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Thebes School, Thebes
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038754005 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Burkart Foam, Cairo
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970480 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Idot, Olive Branch
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018304609 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Tamms Wwtp, Tamms
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039696460 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Illinois American Water Cairo Wtp, Cairo
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072043969 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Thebes Stp, Thebes
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017377275 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Southwater Water Treatment Plant, Tamms
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009982698 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Central Alexander County Sanitary District Stp, Olive Branch
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017885895 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Cairo Rgnl, Cairo
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID CIR (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Cairo Waste Water Treatment Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/77449771 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
East Cape Girardeau, East Cape Girardeau
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0070319: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.9
Acbl Transportation Sevices Llc, Cairo
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0069205: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.9
Southwater Water Treatment Plant, Tamms
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0072788: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.9
Acbl Transportation Svc Llc, Cairo
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007531251 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Illinois Central Railroad Corp, Cairo
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010005378 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5

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 Alexander County

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