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Benton County, Minnesota: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Benton County is 147.8 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 191 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (34), Industrial wastewater discharge (28), Gas station (mapped facility) (27). 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: 45.6934, -93.9844.

How this county ranks in Minnesota

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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 Benton County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	39	23.8	1.64xSignificant	31 to 48.4	2019-2023
Esophagus	New cases	7.1	4.6	1.54x	4.1 to 11.5	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	8.6	5.7	1.51x	5.1 to 13.5	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	18.8	14.5	1.3x	13.5 to 25.6	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	7.9	6.2	1.27x	4.5 to 12.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	63.8	51.8	1.23xSignificant	53.5 to 75.4	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	22.3	18.5	1.21x	16.6 to 29.5	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	36.4	30.2	1.21x	28.9 to 45.4	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	21.6	18.7	1.16x	15.8 to 28.7	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	476.3	453.4	1.05x	447.8 to 506.2	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	147.8	143.2	1.03x	132.3 to 164.7	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	17.7	17.9	0.99x	12.7 to 24.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	13.6	13.9	0.98x	9.3 to 19.3	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	12.7	13	0.98x	8.3 to 18.6	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	8.2	8.7	0.94x	4.9 to 13	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	8.3	11.3	0.73x	5.1 to 12.9	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 Benton County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	6,370.1	9,842.6	-35%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	77.3	75.3	+3%	years
Child mortality	39.7	59.8	-34%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	6.8	6.2	+10%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	73.5	96.9	-24%	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: 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.

Formaldehyde14.62 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.97 per million
Benzene2.25 per million
Naphthalene1.32 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing34
Industrial wastewater discharge28
Gas station (mapped facility)27
Air permit holder (minor source)25
NPDES wastewater discharge permit22
Small hazardous waste generator14
Solar power plant13
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)9
Brownfield property5
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)4
TRI reporting facility3
Major air pollution source2
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Hazardous waste transporter1
Hydroelectric plant1
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.

Central Marble Products Inc, Rice
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene. Reports carcinogens. 41,934 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 56367CNTRL10499 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8
Virnig Manufacturing Inc., Rice
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese, Chromium, Nickel, Copper. Reports carcinogens. 1,208 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 5636WVRNGM11GAT (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.9
Central Marble Products Inc, Rice
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000606023 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Virnig Manufacturing Inc, Rice
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012252631 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.1
Gold'N Plump Farms Llc - Sauk Rapids Feed Mill, Sauk Rapids
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064168270 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Benton Utilities Wwtp, Rice
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011113794 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Verso Paper Corp Sartell Mill, Sartell
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000427315 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Qg Llc, St. Cloud
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000908983 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Lake Andrew Wwtp, Rice
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040322843 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Gateway Motel, Saint Cloud
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069162649 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
St. Cloud Auto Wrecking, St Cloud
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071966585 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
413 & 415 St. Germain Street E, Saint Cloud
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071977128 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
417 E St Germain Street, St. Cloud
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071980125 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Quality Checked Plastics, Saint Cloud
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071983211 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Verso Paper Corp Sartell Mill, Sartell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000427315 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Alpine Cabinetry Llc, St. Cloud
Small hazardous waste generator. Penalties $12,933.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006046180 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Guardian Pharmacy Of Minnesota Llc, Sauk Rapids
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070245550 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Pilgrim'S Sauk Rapids Feedmill, Sauk Rapids
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper compounds, Manganese compounds, Zinc compounds.
TRI facility ID 56379JCKFR6005B (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
X-Cel Optical Co, Sauk Rapids
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead And Lead Compounds.
TRI facility ID 56379XCLPT806SB (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Lake Andrew Wwtp, Rice
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MN0067733: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.8
The Cove Utility Association, Sauk Rapids
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008721963 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Verso Paper Corp Sartell Mill, Sartell
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000427315 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Talon Innovations Corp, Sauk Rapids
Small hazardous waste generator. Penalties $4,320.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008721222 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Rock Solid Land Co Llc, Foley
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,350.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040322889 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Knife River Corp N Central Sauk Rapids, Sauk Rapids
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001446338 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3

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 Benton County

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