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Owen County, Indiana: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Owen County is 189.3 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 134 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (48), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (34), Industrial wastewater discharge (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: 39.318, -86.8696.

How this county ranks in Indiana

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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 Owen County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	51.1	30.2	1.69xSignificant	40.7 to 63.9	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	83.6	51.8	1.61xSignificant	70.1 to 99.5	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	189.3	143.2	1.32xSignificant	167.7 to 213.3	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	8.2	6.6	1.24x	4.7 to 14.1	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	10.5	8.7	1.21x	6.3 to 17.2	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	16.4	13.9	1.18x	10.4 to 25	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	22	18.7	1.18x	15.2 to 31.3	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	12.6	11.3	1.12x	7.5 to 20.3	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	14.2	13	1.09x	8.2 to 23	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	479.3	453.4	1.06x	443.7 to 517.2	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	16.4	18.5	0.89x	10.4 to 25	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	12.4	14.5	0.86x	7.2 to 20.4	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	15.1	17.9	0.84x	9.6 to 23.2	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	16.2	23.8	0.68x	9.9 to 25.3	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 Owen County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	12,176.1	9,842.6	+24%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	72.8	75.3	-3%	years
Child mortality	89	59.8	+49%	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	96.8	96.9	-0%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	28.2	28.6	-1%	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.

Formaldehyde18.14 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.94 per million
Acetaldehyde1.79 per million
Benzene0.86 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing48
NPDES wastewater discharge permit34
Industrial wastewater discharge31
Gas station (mapped facility)9
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)5
Air permit holder (minor source)2
Public airport2
Large hazardous waste generator1
Small hazardous waste generator1
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.

Franklin Street Groundwater Contamination, Spencer
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 50. NPL Site.
EPA site ID INN000510959 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Windcrest Subdivision Wwtp, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110066873397 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Spencer Municipal Wwtp, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006679914 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Gosport Public Water Supply, Gosport
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011981784 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Boston Scientific Corp, Spencer
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009391470 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Spencer Municipal Wwtp, Spencer
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit IN0020192: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.9
Gosport Wwtp, Gosport
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009977926 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Gosport Wwtp, Gosport
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IN0040088: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.2
Bean Blossom Patricksburg Water Company Community Wide, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110063724581 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Mccormicks Creek Elem School, Owen County
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IN0060577: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.9
Mccormicks Creek State Park, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006766277 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Mccormicks Creek Elem School, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010833429 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Patricksburg Elementary School Wwtp, Patricksburg
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit IN0030724: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 1.5
World Arts Incorporated, Spencer
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003101802 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Boston Scientific Corp, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009391470 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Patricksburg Elementary School Wwtp, Patricksburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009737874 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., Gosport
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055571545 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Indiana Limestone Fabricators, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110058571932 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Indiana Hardwood Specialists Inc, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110058798573 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
67 Auto Salvage & Recycling, Gosport
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110058850569 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Spencer Owen Bus Maintenance Building, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070877202 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dollar General No 23176, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071081348 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Mccormick'S Creek State Park Sewer System Improvements, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071239718 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Foster Farms, Gosport
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071294973 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hydrogeology Llc Well Site, Spencer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071295978 (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 Owen County

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