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Brown County, Minnesota: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Brown 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 Non-Hodgkin lymphoma deaths at 2.2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 249 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (86), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (40), Air permit holder (minor source) (24). 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: 44.3042, -94.6528.

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 Brown County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	10.6	4.8	2.21xSignificant	6.3 to 17	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	44.5	23.8	1.87xSignificant	33.7 to 57.6	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	31.3	18.5	1.69xSignificant	23.5 to 41.2	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	17.1	13	1.32x	10.5 to 26.4	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	7	5.7	1.23x	4 to 12	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	169.9	143.2	1.19xSignificant	151.8 to 189.7	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	21.2	17.9	1.18x	14.7 to 29.9	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	530.1	453.4	1.17xSignificant	495.3 to 566.8	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	60.5	51.8	1.17x	50 to 72.9	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	34.7	30.2	1.15x	27 to 44.2	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	12.4	11.3	1.1x	7.7 to 19.2	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	15.2	14.5	1.05x	10.2 to 22.2	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	19.4	18.7	1.04x	13.7 to 27.2	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	14.4	13.9	1.04x	9.2 to 21.7	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 Brown County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	4,833.3	9,842.6	-51%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	80.2	75.3	+6%	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	62.4	96.9	-36%	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.

Formaldehyde13.28 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.97 per million
Acetaldehyde1.15 per million
Benzene0.93 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing86
NPDES wastewater discharge permit40
Air permit holder (minor source)24
Industrial wastewater discharge24
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)16
Small hazardous waste generator16
Gas station (mapped facility)15
TRI reporting facility5
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)5
Major air pollution source3
Public airport3
Brownfield property3
Oil-fired power plant3
Heliport2
Commercial airport1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
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.

Sanborn Manufacturing, Springfield
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese compounds, Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Nickel compounds, Chromium compounds (except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region) and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 132 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 56087SNBRN118WE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.1
3m New Ulm, New Ulm
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000426913 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.1
3m Co - New Ulm, New Ulm
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds, Barium And Barium Compounds, Copper, Mercury and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 3 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 56073MCMPN1700N (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5
Sanborn Mfg Div Of Mat Industries Llc, Springfield
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000426968 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.6
Parker Hannifin Corp - New Ulm, New Ulm
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nickel, Chromium. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 5607WPRKRH211NB (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
New Ulm, New Ulm
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 2001 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4.1
Sleepy Eye, Sleepy Eye
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 2011 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Springfield (Mn), Springfield
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 2012 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Kraft Foods Group Inc - New Ulm Facility, New Ulm
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000426904 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Ampi New Ulm Butter Plant, New Ulm
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000426922 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Parker Hannifin Corp - New Ulm, New Ulm
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015860013 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Acme-Ochs Plant, Springfield
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000426959 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
New Ulm Public Utilities - Municipal Power, New Ulm
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008811492 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
New Ulm Wwtp, New Ulm
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009896292 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Brown County Sanitary Landfill, Sleepy Eye
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071722669 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Comfrey Hospital, Comfrey
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110068195517 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Orchard Inn, Sleepy Eye
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071395287 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Sanborn Auction &Amp; Salvage Ii, Springfield
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071981257 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Kraft Heinz Co-New Ulm Facility, New Ulm
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Nitric acid.
TRI facility ID 56073KRFTG2525S (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Associated Milk Producers Inc., New Ulm
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Nitric acid.
TRI facility ID 56073SSCTD312CE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Hanska Wwtp, Hanska
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MN0052663: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.7
3m New Ulm, New Ulm
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000426913 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Sleepy Eye Wwtp, Sleepy Eye
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069015274 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Hanska Wwtp, Hanska
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009891554 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Mathiowetz Construction Co, Sleepy Eye
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110014326210 (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 Brown 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 Brown 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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