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Richland County, Illinois: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Richland County is 172.1 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 1.6 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 144 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (35), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (31), Air permit holder (minor source) (30). 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: 38.7103, -88.0972.

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 Richland County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	47.9	30.2	1.59xSignificant	36.3 to 62.7	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	76.3	51.8	1.47xSignificant	61 to 94.8	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	24.1	17.9	1.35x	15.5 to 36	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	23.5	18.7	1.26x	15.5 to 34.7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	172.1	143.2	1.2xSignificant	149 to 198.1	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	510.6	453.4	1.13xSignificant	468.1 to 556.3	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	13	14.5	0.9x	7.3 to 22.2	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	18.8	23.8	0.79x	11.1 to 30.2	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 Richland County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,994.5	9,842.6	+12%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	73.7	75.3	-2%	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	85.9	96.9	-11%	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.

Formaldehyde18.7 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.96 per million
Acetaldehyde1.81 per million
Benzene0.77 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing35
NPDES wastewater discharge permit31
Air permit holder (minor source)30
Industrial wastewater discharge21
Brownfield property7
Gas station (mapped facility)7
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)4
Small hazardous waste generator3
Commercial airport1
Heliport1
Solar power plant1
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.

Olney Stp, City Of, Olney
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000731842 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Prairie Farms Dairy Incorporated, Olney
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000537526 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Parkersburg Stp, Village Of, Parkersburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,400.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006767999 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
West Liberty - Dundas Sanitary District Stp, Dundas
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055174181 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
East Industrial Park, Olney
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970780 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Cips Start Site, Olney
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970781 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Benton Site, Olney
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970782 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Garment Factory, Olney
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071971248 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Herman Drive Site, Olney
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071980849 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Former Filling Station, Olney
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071983911 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Whittle Avenue Property, Olney
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071983912 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Prairie Farms Dairy Inc, Olney
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitric acid.
TRI facility ID 62450PRRFR217WE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Calhoun - Sewage Treatment Plant, Calhoun
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IL0074667: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.3
Calhoun - Sewage Treatment Plant, Calhoun
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009981920 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Claremont Stp, Village Of, Claremont
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009989441 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
United Parcel Service, Olney
Air permit holder (minor source). Penalties $5,300,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001340344 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Noble Stp, Village Of, Noble
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006770100 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Olney-Noble, Olney-Noble
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID OLY (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Wastewater Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/660162039 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Claremont Stp, Village Of, Claremont
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit ILG580271: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.7
Brunswick Bicycles, Olney
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000439400 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Prairie Farms Dairy Incorporated, Olney
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000537526 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Imperial Trailer Mfg. & Sales, Inc., Olney
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001303964 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Richland Memorial Hospital Inc, Olney
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001684703 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Doll'S Inc, Olney
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002386481 (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 Richland 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 Richland 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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