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Houghton County, Michigan: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Houghton County is 169.9 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Esophagus deaths at 2 times the U.S. rate and Bladder deaths at 1.9 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 174 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (39), Gas station (mapped facility) (27), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (26). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 10 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: 46.8548, -88.7422.

How this county ranks in Michigan

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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 Houghton County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Esophagus	Deaths	7.3	3.7	1.97xSignificant	4.3 to 11.9	2020-2024
Bladder	Deaths	7.9	4.1	1.93xSignificant	4.8 to 12.6	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	13.6	11.3	1.2x	9.2 to 19.7	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	169.9	143.2	1.19xSignificant	153.3 to 188	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	33.9	30.2	1.12x	27 to 42.3	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	6	5.7	1.05x	3.4 to 10.2	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	50.2	51.8	0.97x	41.6 to 60.2	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	12.5	13.9	0.9x	8.2 to 18.5	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	12.9	18.5	0.7x	8.4 to 19.2	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	307	453.4	0.68x	283.5 to 332.1	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	11.7	18.7	0.63x	7.8 to 17.1	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	8.7	14.5	0.6x	5 to 14.3	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	13.4	23.8	0.56x	8.8 to 19.8	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	8	17.9	0.45x	4.5 to 13.2	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 Houghton County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	7,051.9	9,842.6	-28%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	77.6	75.3	+3%	years
Child mortality	36.2	59.8	-39%	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	76.1	96.9	-22%	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: 10 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde8.37 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride3 per million
Acetaldehyde0.85 per million
Benzene0.62 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Industrial wastewater discharge39
Gas station (mapped facility)27
NPDES wastewater discharge permit26
Air permit holder (minor source)18
Brownfield property16
Rail grade crossing16
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)10
Small hazardous waste generator3
TRI reporting facility3
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)3
Major air pollution source2
Large hazardous waste generator2
Landfill (mapped facility)2
Public airport1
Commercial airport1
Crematorium (mapped facility)1
Heliport1
Oil-fired power plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
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.

Torch Lake, Houghton County
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 46.7. NPL Site.
EPA site ID MID980901946 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Peninsula Copper Industries Inc, Hubbell
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110057964421 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9.4
Warm Rain Corp, Calumet
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene, Methyl methacrylate. Reports carcinogens. 313,759 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 49930GRTLKHANCO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.7
Koppers Performance Chemicals, Hubbell
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Copper And Copper Compounds, Copper compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds and 1 more. 2,471,392 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 49934PNNSL1700D (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.9
Calumet Electronics Corp, Calumet
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Formaldehyde, Nitric acid, Cyanide compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 8,530 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 49913CLMTL25830 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.5
Warm Rain Corporation, Calumet
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041170292 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.2
Calumet Electronics Corp, Calumet
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000858199 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Houghton County Meml, Hancock
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID CMX (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 5
Chassell Twp Wwsl, Chassell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009026534 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
South Range Wwsl, South Range
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009910588 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Torch Lake-Lake Linden Wwtf, Lake Linden
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071320090 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Peninsula Copper Industries Inc, Hubbell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110057964421 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
North Houghton Co W&Sa Cso, Calumet
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071710639 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Portage, South Range
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 8019 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Torch Lake Area-Tamarack Sys, Hubbell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071322021 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Upper Peninsula Power Company - Portage, South Range
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007275885 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Warm Rain Corporation, Calumet
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041170292 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Portage Lake Authority Wwtp, Houghton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009595606 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Chassell Waterfront Property, Chassell
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015331844 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Taxi Depot Village Calumet, Calumet
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015331853 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Hancock-Ripley Trail Property, Hancock
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015331899 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Mihelish Rendering Buld, Calumet
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015336411 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Tamarack City Stamp Mill, Hubbell
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015336965 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Quincy Roundhouse, Hancock
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038757529 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Erkkila Building, Calumet
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038759199 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) 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 Houghton County

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