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Fayette County, Illinois: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Fayette County is 162.3 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.9 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 224 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (63), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (50), Air permit holder (minor source) (40). 2 correctional facilities operate in the county, at least one with health-based drinking water violations on record. 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: 38.9873, -89.0318.

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 Fayette County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	57.2	30.2	1.89xSignificant	45.7 to 71	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	79.8	51.8	1.54xSignificant	65.9 to 96	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	162.3	143.2	1.13x	142.4 to 184.4	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	25	23.8	1.05x	17.3 to 35.3	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	19.1	18.7	1.02x	12.6 to 28.2	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	441.9	453.4	0.97x	407.5 to 478.7	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	17	17.9	0.95x	10.6 to 26.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	12.9	13.9	0.93x	7.7 to 20.6	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	17	18.5	0.92x	10.7 to 25.9	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	10.1	11.3	0.89x	5.8 to 17	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	11	14.5	0.76x	6.2 to 18.4	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 Fayette County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	7,667.7	9,842.6	-22%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	77	75.3	+2%	years
Child mortality	61.9	59.8	+3%	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	75	96.9	-23%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	17.2	28.6	-40%	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.

Formaldehyde18.5 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.96 per million
Acetaldehyde1.75 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

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

Rail grade crossing63
NPDES wastewater discharge permit50
Air permit holder (minor source)40
Industrial wastewater discharge40
Gas station (mapped facility)8
Brownfield property5
Major air pollution source2
Correctional facility (prison or jail)2
Large hazardous waste generator2
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)2
Public airport1
Commercial airport1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Hazardous waste transporter1
Heliport1
Gas power plant1
Solar power plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)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.

S&S Urethane Inc, Farina
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Dichloromethane. Reports carcinogens. 10 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 6283WSSRTH11WWA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.3
Fayette Water Company, Brownstown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009982233 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Feller Oilfield Service Inc, St Elmo
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018081868 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Erin Wolff Private Sewage Disposal System, Vandalia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071097399 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Craig Simon Private Sewage Disposal System, Vandalia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071295971 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Todd Thoman Private Sewage Disposal System, Vandalia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071320208 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Vandalia Stp, City Of, Vandalia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000731575 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Danny George Private Sewage Disposal System, Vandalia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070686324 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Natural Gas Pipeline Co, St. Elmo
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018125456 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Iola Stp, Village Of, Iola
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110035853724 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Freedom Power Station, Saint Elmo
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043783475 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Ramsey Lake State Park, Ramsey
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009987023 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Octochem Inc, Vandalia
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110024924377 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Freedom Power Project, St. Elmo
Gas power plant.
Record ID 7842 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3
Former Craycroft Motors, Vandalia
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110044759954 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Multi-Tenant Commercial Property, Vandalia
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071964778 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Seed Warehouse Facility, Vandalia
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071968717 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Francois Property, Vandalia
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071969461 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Former Filling/Auto Service Station, Vandalia
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071969900 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Ramsey Stw, Ramsey
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006775212 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Idot, Vandalia
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018883966 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
St Elmo, City Of, Saint Elmo
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0030872: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
Vandalia Stp, Vandalia
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0023574: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.9
Brownstown Stp, Village Of, Brownstown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010025640 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Natural Gas Pipeline Co, St. Elmo
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110018125456 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5

Correctional facilities

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

Vandalia Correctional Center, Vandalia
EPA FRS registry ID
110012675435
Water system
IL0515500
Health-based violations
11 all time, 0 in 5 years
All violations
46
Contaminants cited
Coliform (TCR), Lead and Copper Rule, TTHM, Total Haloacetic Acids (HAA5)
Wastewater permit
Yes
EPA detailed facility report
Vandalia Correctional Center, Vandalia
EPA FRS registry ID
110018358604
Wastewater permit
None on record
EPA detailed facility report

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Fayette 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 Fayette 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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