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Union County, Illinois: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Union County is 176 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 143 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (44), Industrial wastewater discharge (34), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (31). 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: 37.4653, -89.2569.

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 Union County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	29.8	17.9	1.66xSignificant	20.3 to 42.5	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	47.3	30.2	1.57xSignificant	36.6 to 60.7	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	28.7	18.7	1.53xSignificant	20.6 to 39.6	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	79.2	51.8	1.53xSignificant	64.7 to 96.6	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	18.9	14.5	1.3x	11.8 to 29.2	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	176	143.2	1.23xSignificant	153.7 to 201.1	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	12.5	11.3	1.11x	7.4 to 20.8	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	489.5	453.4	1.08x	449.9 to 531.9	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24.1	23.8	1.01x	16 to 35.5	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	12.9	13.9	0.93x	7.2 to 21.7	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	14.7	18.5	0.79x	8.3 to 24.5	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 Union County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,017.6	9,842.6	+2%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	74.7	75.3	-1%	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	82.5	96.9	-15%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	29.9	28.6	+4%	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.

Formaldehyde20.7 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.95 per million
Acetaldehyde2.01 per million
Benzene0.75 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing44
Industrial wastewater discharge34
NPDES wastewater discharge permit31
Air permit holder (minor source)14
Gas station (mapped facility)8
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)4
Heliport3
Large hazardous waste generator2
Major air pollution source1
Public airport1
Hazardous waste transporter1

Highest-severity records

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

Dyno Nobel Inc, Wolf Lake
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000440041 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Dyno Nobel Inc, Wolf Lake
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000440041 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Ready Mix Solutions Llc, Anna
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002407315 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Schaefer Entp. Of Wolf Lk., Wolf Lake
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007527373 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Shawnee Stone Llc - Jonesboro Quarry, Jonesboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010022910 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Clyde L Choate Mental Health Center, Anna
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001289276 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Dyno Nobel Inc, Wolf Lake
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110000440041 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Dyno Nobel Inc, Wolf Lake
Hazardous waste transporter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000440041 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Ready Mix Solutions Llc, Anna
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110002407315 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Clyde L Choate Mental Health Center, Anna
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001289276 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Clyde L Choate Mental Health Center, Anna
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001289276 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Anna Stw, City Of, Anna
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009988219 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Migrant Education Head Start, Cobden
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006769283 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Alto Pass Stp, Village Of, Alto Pass
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070392374 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Dongola Stp, Village Of, Dongola
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010025659 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Jonesboro Stp, City Of, Jonesboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009987988 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Cobden Stp, Village Of, Cobden
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009988031 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Ware Sanitary Corporation Stp, Jonesboro
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit ILG580242: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.2
Ware Sanitary Corporation Stp, Ware
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009689925 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Wolf Lake Sanitary Corporation, Wolf Lake
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009726056 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Idot- I57 Union Co S, Anna
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020555807 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Wastewater Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1436824861 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Wastewater Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1436824862 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Wastewater Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1436824863 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Wolf Lake Sewage Treatment Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/721741415 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2

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 Union 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 Union 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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