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Cherokee County, Kansas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Cherokee County is 201.2 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 1.8 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 267 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (115), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (42), Industrial wastewater discharge (40). 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: 37.1675, -94.8463.

How this county ranks in Kansas

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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 Cherokee County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	54.3	30.2	1.8xSignificant	42.9 to 68.1	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	19.3	13	1.48x	11 to 31.2	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	201.2	143.2	1.41xSignificant	177.6 to 227.4	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	72.6	51.8	1.4xSignificant	59.1 to 88.6	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	15.8	14.5	1.09x	9.5 to 25.2	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	19.1	17.9	1.07x	12 to 29	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	12	11.3	1.06x	6.8 to 20	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	459.3	453.4	1.01x	421.6 to 499.6	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	18.1	18.7	0.97x	11.7 to 27.2	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	17.8	18.5	0.96x	11 to 27.5	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	12.8	13.9	0.92x	7.5 to 21.1	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	17.1	23.8	0.72x	10.4 to 26.8	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 Cherokee County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	12,089.5	9,842.6	+23%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	72.1	75.3	-4%	years
Child mortality	71.8	59.8	+20%	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	94	96.9	-3%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	24.2	28.6	-15%	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.

Formaldehyde19.94 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.9 per million
Acetaldehyde1.83 per million
Benzene0.8 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing115
NPDES wastewater discharge permit42
Industrial wastewater discharge40
Air permit holder (minor source)28
Gas station (mapped facility)10
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)6
TRI reporting facility5
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)4
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)3
Major air pollution source2
Brownfield property2
Large greenhouse gas emitter2
Small hazardous waste generator2
Superfund (NPL) site2
Public airport1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
Gas power plant1

Highest-severity records

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

Cherokee County, Cherokee County
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 58.2. NPL Site.
EPA site ID KSD980741862 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Cherokee Zinc - Weir Smelter, Weir
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 51.8. NPL Site.
EPA site ID KSN000706550 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Jayhawk Fine Chemicals Corp, Galena
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: n-Hexane, Ammonia, Methyl tert-butyl ether, n-Butyl alcohol and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 150,904 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 66739LLCCH22MIS (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.5
Jayhawk Fine Chemicals, Galena
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017542499 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.3
Atec Steel Fabrication & Construction Llc, Baxter Springs
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese, Copper, Chromium, Nickel. Reports carcinogens. 107 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 6671WTCSTL1WEST (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.1
Kemlee Manufacturing Inc, Galena
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium compounds (except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region), Nickel compounds, Manganese compounds. Reports carcinogens. 29 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 66739KMLMNW7THS (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.6
Tank Connection Baxter Springs, Baxter Springs
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043645222 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Jayhawk Fine Chemicals, Galena
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017542499 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Pbi/Gordon Corp - Jayhawk Facility, Crestline
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Malathion, Copper compounds, 2,4-D, Mecoprop and 3 more. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 66110PBGRDALTER (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Plant 5 - Port-0811 - Baxter Springs, Baxter Springs
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 6671WPLNTP71SEH (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Kemlee Mfg Inc, Galena
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000596579 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.4
Jayhawk Fine Chemicals, Galena
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017542499 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Jayhawk Fine Chemicals, Galena
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017542499 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Pbi/Gordon Corp Jayhawk Facility, Crestline
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000596490 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Butterball Llc, Columbus
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003210276 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Empire District Electric - Riverton Power Plant, Riverton
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017494451 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Riverton, Riverton
Gas power plant.
Record ID 1239 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3.3
Cdl Columbus Bta, Columbus
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040821901 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Spring River Pwwsd #19, Galena
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043242167 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Galena Sewer Treatment Plant C/O City Hall, Galena
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011225101 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Empire District Electric - Riverton Power Plant, Riverton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017494451 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Butterball Llc, Columbus
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper compounds, Manganese compounds, Zinc compounds.
TRI facility ID 66725BTTRBWK96X (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Cherokee County Rwd No. 3, Baxter Springs
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110028305340 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Baxter Springs Wwtp, Baxter Springs
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039996387 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Weir, City Of (Wwtp), Weir
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006800051 (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.

No correctional facility with an EPA record is located in this county.

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Cherokee County

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