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Christian County, Illinois: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Christian County is 171.6 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 1.7 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 383 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (117), Air permit holder (minor source) (74), Industrial wastewater discharge (72). One correctional facility operates in the county. 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: 39.5891, -89.2796.

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 Christian County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	New cases	109	51.8	2.1xSignificant	96.3 to 123.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	51.6	30.2	1.71xSignificant	42.9 to 61.6	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	27.3	17.9	1.53xSignificant	20.8 to 35.3	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	31.5	23.8	1.32xSignificant	24.2 to 40.4	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	8.3	6.6	1.26x	5.1 to 13.1	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	23.2	18.7	1.24x	17.6 to 30.3	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	562.4	453.4	1.24xSignificant	531.9 to 594.4	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	171.6	143.2	1.2xSignificant	155.4 to 189.3	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	15.2	13	1.17x	9.8 to 22.4	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	21.6	18.5	1.17x	16 to 28.7	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	9.8	8.7	1.13x	6.4 to 14.8	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	14	13.9	1.01x	9.6 to 20	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	14.5	14.5	1x	10 to 20.6	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	8.2	11.3	0.73x	5.2 to 12.9	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 Christian County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	8,450.8	9,842.6	-14%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	75.8	75.3	+1%	years
Child mortality	66.6	59.8	+11%	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	81	96.9	-16%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	14.1	28.6	-51%	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.

Formaldehyde17.13 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.96 per million
Acetaldehyde1.58 per million
Benzene0.79 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing117
Air permit holder (minor source)74
Industrial wastewater discharge72
NPDES wastewater discharge permit67
Combined sewer overflow outfall7
Gas station (mapped facility)6
Public airport5
Small hazardous waste generator5
Major air pollution source4
TRI reporting facility4
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)4
Large greenhouse gas emitter3
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)3
Large hazardous waste generator2
Heliport2
Commercial airport1
Correctional facility (prison or jail)1
Hazardous waste transporter1
Biomass power plant1
Coal power plant1
Solar power plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
Superfund (NPL) site1

Highest-severity records

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

Central Illinois Public Service Co., Taylorville
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 29. NPL Site.
EPA site ID ILD981781065 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Ahlstrom Filtration, Llc., Taylorville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011266003 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9.4
Ahlstrom Filtration Llc, Taylorville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Phenol, Formaldehyde. Reports carcinogens. 815,213 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 62568GSRGP1200E (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9
Kincaid Power Station, Kincaid
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrogen fluoride, Barium And Barium Compounds, 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. 529,305 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 62540KNCDG4MILE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.9
Dominion Kincaid Generation Llc, Kincaid
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000602125 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Gsi Group Llc, Assumption
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese, Chromium, Nickel, Copper and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 4,253 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 62510GSGRP14EIL (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.3
Kincaid Generation Llc, Kincaid
Coal power plant.
Record ID 876 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 7.1
Gsi Group, Taylorville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium, Manganese, Nickel, Copper and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 866 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 6256WGSGRP24SSP (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.8
Ahlstrom Filtration, Llc., Taylorville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011266003 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Ahlstrom Filtration, Llc., Taylorville
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011266003 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Ahlstrom Filtration, Llc., Taylorville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011266003 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Gsi Group, Taylorville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110028268167 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Pana Stp, City Of, Pana
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039919247 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Ahlstrom Filtration, Llc., Taylorville
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011266003 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Brandis Aircraft, Taylorville
Small hazardous waste generator. Penalties $50,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018355402 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Gsi Group Llc, Assumption
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110028924145 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Dominion Kincaid Generation Llc, Kincaid
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000602125 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Kincaid Stp, Kincaid
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009985891 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Tracy Trucking Service, Inc., Mt. Auburn
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010012663 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Pana Wwtp, Pana
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015723145 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Christian County Limestone, Pana
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018355475 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Richard Bonitzer Private Sewage Disposal System, Taylorville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067173141 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Matthew Dudley Private Sewage Disposal System, Taylorville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070866892 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Dominion Kincaid Generation Llc, Kincaid
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000602125 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Christian County Limestone, Pana
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110018355475 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4

Correctional facilities

Prisons, jails and corrections operations with an EPA facility record, and the drinking water and wastewater compliance attached to them.

Idoc Taylorville Correctional Ctr, Taylorville
EPA FRS registry ID
110007548298
Wastewater permit
None on record
EPA detailed facility report

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Christian 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 Christian 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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