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Cottonwood County, Minnesota: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Cottonwood County is 161.3 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 131 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (28), Industrial wastewater discharge (25), Rail grade crossing (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: 44.0216, -95.1608.

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 Cottonwood 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	42.7	23.8	1.79xSignificant	28 to 62.6	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	27.8	17.9	1.55x	16.9 to 43.7	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	23.9	18.5	1.29x	13.9 to 38.8	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	554.5	453.4	1.22xSignificant	502.1 to 611.3	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	161.3	143.2	1.13x	136.4 to 190.1	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	31.4	30.2	1.04x	20.8 to 46.4	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	53.1	51.8	1.03x	39 to 71.6	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	18.5	18.7	0.99x	10.1 to 31.9	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 Cottonwood County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	6,976	9,842.6	-29%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	78.3	75.3	+4%	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	95.3	96.9	-2%	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.

Formaldehyde13.02 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.93 per million
Acetaldehyde1.06 per million
Benzene0.73 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit28
Industrial wastewater discharge25
Rail grade crossing24
Air permit holder (minor source)12
Gas station (mapped facility)10
Small hazardous waste generator7
Wind power plant4
Public airport3
Oil-fired power plant3
TRI reporting facility3
Major air pollution source2
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
Large greenhouse gas emitter2
Heliport2
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)2
Commercial airport1
Landfill (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.

Heron Lake Bioenergy, Llc, Heron Lake
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $18,445.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031262407 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9.5
Poet Biorefining - Bingham Lake Llc, Bingham Lake
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Acetaldehyde, n-Hexane, Methanol, Formaldehyde and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 64,836 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 56118THNLLHWY60 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.2
Poet Bioprocessing-Bingham Lake, Bingham Lake
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $23,440.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006060145 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.7
Heron Lake Bioenergy, Llc, Heron Lake
Major air pollution source. Penalties $18,445.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031262407 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Heron Lake Bioenergy, Llc, Heron Lake
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $18,445.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031262407 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Heron Lake Bioenergy, Llc, Heron Lake
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $18,445.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031262407 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Poet Bioprocessing-Bingham Lake, Bingham Lake
Major air pollution source. Penalties $23,440.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006060145 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Poet Bioprocessing-Bingham Lake, Bingham Lake
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $23,440.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006060145 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Poet Bioprocessing-Bingham Lake, Bingham Lake
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $23,440.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006060145 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Mountain Lake, Mountain Lake
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 1998 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Windom, Windom
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 2023 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Westbrook, Westbrook
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 2021 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Milk Specialties Inc, Mountain Lake
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007431895 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Mountain Lake Wwtp, Mountain Lake
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070355446 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Windom Wwtp, Windom
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009897923 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Poet Bioprocessing-Bingham Lake, Bingham Lake
Small hazardous waste generator. Penalties $23,440.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006060145 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Actus Nutrition - Mountain Lake, Mountain Lake
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nonylphenol Ethoxylates, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Nitric acid.
TRI facility ID 56159LNDLKEASTH (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Westbrook Wwtp, Westbrook Township
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069092966 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Delft Sanitary District Wwtp, Windom
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020653755 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Neuhof Hutterian Brethren, Mountain Lake Township
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110068008408 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Storden Wwtp, Storden Township
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110068378589 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Windom Muni, Windom
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID MWM (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Landfill
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1321850606 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Jeffers Wwtp, Jeffers
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067913930 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Sanford Clinic Mountain Lake, Mountain Lake
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003808808 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5

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 Cottonwood 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 Cottonwood 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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