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Sumner County, Kansas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Sumner County is 174 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 341 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (152), Air permit holder (minor source) (69), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (42). 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: 37.2335, -97.4761.

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 Sumner County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	54.7	30.2	1.81xSignificant	43.9 to 67.7	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	68.6	51.8	1.32xSignificant	56.3 to 83.1	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	174	143.2	1.22xSignificant	153.9 to 196.2	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	15.6	13	1.2x	9 to 25	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	19.8	17.9	1.11x	13 to 29.2	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	25	23.8	1.05x	17 to 35.5	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	18.6	18.5	1.01x	12 to 27.7	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	434.9	453.4	0.96x	401.1 to 470.9	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	17.5	18.7	0.94x	11.7 to 25.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	8.9	13.9	0.64x	5 to 15.1	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 Sumner County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,708.2	9,842.6	+9%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	74	75.3	-2%	years
Child mortality	92.3	59.8	+54%	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	92.7	96.9	-4%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	19.3	28.6	-33%	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.

Formaldehyde17.63 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.87 per million
Acetaldehyde1.39 per million
Benzene0.81 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 365 days: 240 good, 4 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 45, peak 370.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing152
Air permit holder (minor source)69
NPDES wastewater discharge permit42
Industrial wastewater discharge35
Gas station (mapped facility)9
Public airport7
Brownfield property5
Small hazardous waste generator4
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)3
Major air pollution source2
Large hazardous waste generator2
Gas power plant2
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)2
EPA air quality monitor1
Commercial airport1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
Oil-fired power plant1
Wind power plant1
TRI reporting facility1

Highest-severity records

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

PECK
EPA air quality monitor.
Record ID 201910002 (U.S. EPA AirData)
Severity 5.5
Wellington, City Of (Wwtp), Wellington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $12,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040001299 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Kansas Castings, Belle Plaine
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium. 24 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 67013KNSSC508IN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.1
Oxford (Ks), Oxford
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 7432 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Kansas Castings, Belle Plaine
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001131695 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Wellington Municipal Power Plant, Wellington
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001385322 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Wellington City Power Plant, Gas Turbine, Wellington
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040981006 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Triumph Accessory Service, Wellington
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003148353 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Wellington 1, Wellington
Gas power plant.
Record ID 1330 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3
Wellington 2, Wellington
Gas power plant.
Record ID 7339 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3
Former Cargill B Mill, Wellington
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015334208 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Hospital District #1 Of Sumner, Caldwell
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017464493 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Caldwell Community Building, Caldwell
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071968598 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Carnegie Library Bta, Caldwell
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071969263 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Caldwell Market Street Bta, Caldwell
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970940 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Diversified Services Inc., Wellington
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017462538 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Mulvane, City Of, Mulvane
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110024400646 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Tect Aerospace - Wellington, Wellington
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper.
TRI facility ID 67152BSYST1515N (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Wellington, City Of, Wellington
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $12,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006623868 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Caldwell, City Of, Caldwell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022850574 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Peck Improvement District (Wwtp), Peck
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039404828 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Caldwell Muni, Caldwell
Public airport. O.
Record ID 01K (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Argonia Muni, Argonia
Public airport. O.
Record ID 2K8 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Wellington Muni, Wellington
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID EGT (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Landfill
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1393541051 (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 Sumner 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 Sumner 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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