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Iron County, Michigan: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Iron County is 154.7 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.4 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 67 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (20), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (11), Gas station (mapped facility) (9). 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: 46.1443, -88.5542.

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 Iron County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	43	30.2	1.42xSignificant	31.8 to 58.5	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	18.6	13.9	1.34x	10 to 32.9	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	14.8	11.3	1.31x	8.1 to 26.6	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	66.5	51.8	1.28xSignificant	52.5 to 84.9	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	154.7	143.2	1.08x	131.1 to 182.7	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	16	18.7	0.86x	9.3 to 27.8	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	334.8	453.4	0.74x	296.8 to 377.3	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 Iron County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,774.3	9,842.6	+9%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	74.6	75.3	-1%	years
Child mortality	n/a	59.8	n/a	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	123.9	96.9	+28%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	32	28.6	+12%	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.

Formaldehyde8.43 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.94 per million
Acetaldehyde0.87 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

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

Rail grade crossing20
NPDES wastewater discharge permit11
Gas station (mapped facility)9
Air permit holder (minor source)7
Industrial wastewater discharge6
Hydroelectric plant5
Public airport3
Large hazardous waste generator2
Major air pollution source1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
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.

West Iron Co Sa Wwtp, Caspian
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006367154 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Great Lakes Gas Transmission Station #8 (N3760), Crystal Falls
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008450185 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Lake Shore Systems, Inc, Iron River
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000852612 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Aspirus Iron River Hospital, Iron River
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067422337 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Great Lakes Gas Transmission Station #8 (N3760), Crystal Falls
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008450185 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Iron County, Crystal Falls
Public airport. O.
Record ID 50D (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Stambaugh, Iron River
Public airport. O.
Record ID Y73 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Wastewater Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1346745865 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Ottawa Forest Products-Amasa Mill, Amasa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067620355 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Lake Shore Systems, Inc, Iron River
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000852612 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Magiglide Inc-Crystal Falls, Crystal Falls
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003708998 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
James Spicer Inc, Iron River
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031357216 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Northeastern Pro Corp-Caspian, Caspian
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045484481 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Western Peninsula Invasives-Nuisance Plant, Iron River
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070388850 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
36-Enbridge Tributary To Paint River Hdd-Crystal Falls Twp, Crystall Falls
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070564525 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Connor Sports Flooring-Amasa, Amasa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071321683 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hebert Construction Co, Iron River
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071321824 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Raymond Iron Inc, Iron River
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071322383 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Way Dam Road, Channing
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 388265B (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1.2
Hilltop-Kelso Rd, Crystal Falls
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 388267P (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1.2
Rock Crusher Road, Crystal Falls
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 388268W (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1.2
Wpa Rd, Crystal Falls
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 388269D (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1.2
Premo Creek Rd, Amasa
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 388270X (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1.2
Warner Mine Road, Amasa
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 388272L (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1.2
Old Us-141, Amasa
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 388273T (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1.2

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 Iron 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 Iron 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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