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Seward County, Kansas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Seward County is 146.4 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 184 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Air permit holder (minor source) (58), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (37), Industrial wastewater discharge (21). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 20 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: 37.1846, -100.8515.

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 Seward County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	29.5	17.9	1.65xSignificant	19.4 to 42.7	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	16.9	13	1.3x	9.8 to 27.2	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	18.4	14.5	1.27x	10.6 to 29.4	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	146.4	143.2	1.02x	122.2 to 173.7	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	49	51.8	0.95x	35.9 to 65.4	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	426.4	453.4	0.94x	385.6 to 470.3	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	22.5	30.2	0.75x	13.6 to 34.7	2020-2024

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 Seward County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	7,827	9,842.6	-20%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	77.2	75.3	+3%	years
Child mortality	40.3	59.8	-33%	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	60.5	96.9	-38%	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: 20 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde13.37 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.72 per million
Acetaldehyde0.88 per million
Benzene0.59 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Air permit holder (minor source)58
NPDES wastewater discharge permit37
Industrial wastewater discharge21
Rail grade crossing21
Gas station (mapped facility)11
Major air pollution source7
Brownfield property6
Small hazardous waste generator6
Large greenhouse gas emitter4
TRI reporting facility3
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)3
Gas power plant2
Commercial airport1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)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.

Dcp National Helium Plant, Liberal
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Cyclohexane, Methanol, Toluene, n-Hexane and 2 more. Reports carcinogens. 120,470 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 6790WDCPNT15MEN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.4
Arkalon Ethanol Llc, Liberal
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Acetaldehyde, Formic acid, Acrolein, n-Hexane and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 109,636 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 6790WRKLNT481RA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.4
National Beef Packing Co Llc, Liberal
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Peracetic acid, Nitric acid, Chlorine. 145,289 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 67901NTNLB1501E (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7
Dcp National Helium Plant, Liberal
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006013465 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.2
Arkalon Energy, Llc, Liberal
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110032953294 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
National Beef Packing Company, Llc, Liberal, Liberal
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009969677 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.7
Liberal Mechanical Plant (New) (Wwtp), Liberal
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070562327 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Liberal Mid-America Rgnl, Liberal
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID LBL (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 5
Liberal, City Of (Old Wwtp), Liberal
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006523244 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Seward County Landfill, Liberal
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008355430 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
National Beef Packing Company, Llc, Liberal, Liberal
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009969677 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Merit Energy - East Woods Booster Station, Liberal
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013940227 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line - Liberal Station, Liberal
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110014379528 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Sunflower Electric - Cimarron River, Liberal
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017591630 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Dcp Operating - National Helium Gas Plant (Air), Liberal
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022575523 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Scout Energy - Sublette Station, Kismet
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031468427 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Cimarron River, Liberal
Gas power plant.
Record ID 1230 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3.1
Arkalon Ethanol Llc, Liberal
Gas power plant.
Record ID 58192 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3
Rose Auto Dealership, Liberal
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017510451 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Tradewind/Strothers Industries, Liberal
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038741332 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Hatcher Farm Warehouse, Liberal
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071964733 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Rogers 'S Truck Wash, Liberal
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970161 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
H&Amp;O Property, Liberal
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071985478 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Liberal Koc Bta, Liberal
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071985482 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
National Beef Packing Company, Llc, Liberal, Liberal
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009969677 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3

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 Seward 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 Seward 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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