MN / county FIPS 27119 / county research

Polk County, Minnesota: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Polk County is 165.5 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Kidney & renal pelvis deaths at 2.4 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 462 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (283), Industrial wastewater discharge (40), Gas station (mapped facility) (32). 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: 47.8353, -96.6691.

How this county ranks in Minnesota

View on the heat map Scan an address in this county

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 Polk County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	8.2	3.4	2.41xSignificant	4.8 to 13.4	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	9.1	4.6	1.98xSignificant	5.5 to 14.6	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	41.7	23.8	1.75xSignificant	32.3 to 53	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	7.6	4.8	1.58x	4.4 to 12.5	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	19.6	13	1.51xSignificant	13.1 to 28.2	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	23.6	17.9	1.32x	17 to 32.1	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	24.4	18.7	1.3x	18.2 to 32.2	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	21.6	18.5	1.17x	15.6 to 29.2	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	165.5	143.2	1.16xSignificant	148.5 to 184	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	34.8	30.2	1.15x	27.4 to 43.8	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	497.8	453.4	1.1xSignificant	466.5 to 530.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	56.3	51.8	1.09x	46.6 to 67.6	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	13.6	14.5	0.94x	8.6 to 20.4	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	10.2	11.3	0.9x	6.5 to 15.6	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	12.4	13.9	0.89x	8.1 to 18.4	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 Polk County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	7,265.5	9,842.6	-26%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	76.9	75.3	+2%	years
Child mortality	41.5	59.8	-31%	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	74.1	96.9	-24%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	11.9	28.6	-58%	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.

Formaldehyde11.25 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride3 per million
Acetaldehyde0.96 per million
Benzene0.82 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing283
Industrial wastewater discharge40
Gas station (mapped facility)32
Air permit holder (minor source)23
NPDES wastewater discharge permit19
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)12
Small hazardous waste generator9
Public airport8
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)7
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)6
Major air pollution source5
TRI reporting facility5
Hazardous waste transporter3
Scrapyard (mapped facility)3
Commercial airport2
Large greenhouse gas emitter2
Coal power plant2
Heliport1

Highest-severity records

The 25 records with the highest Envyrofax severity in the county, with the agency identifier to cite in a records request.

American Crystal Sugar - East Grand Forks, East Grand Forks
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $362,715.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007602095 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 10
American Crystal Sugar Co, Crookston
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Methanol, Formaldehyde, Acetaldehyde and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 1,818,348 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 56716MRCNCHIGHW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.3
American Crystal Sugar Co, East Grand Forks
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Hydrogen fluoride, Methanol, Hydrogen sulfide and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 1,619,415 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 56721MRCNCHIGHW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.3
American Crystal Sugar - Crookston, Crookston
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $21,780.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000594919 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.3
American Crystal Sugar - East Grand Forks, East Grand Forks
Major air pollution source. Penalties $362,715.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007602095 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
American Crystal Sugar - East Grand Forks, East Grand Forks
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $362,715.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007602095 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
American Crystal Sugar - East Grand Forks, East Grand Forks
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $362,715.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007602095 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Consolidated Equipment Group, Fosston
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese. 20,776 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 5654WCNSLD92AIR (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.3
American Crystal Sugar East Grand Forks, East Grand Forks
Coal power plant.
Record ID 54214 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 6
American Crystal Sugar Crookston, Crookston
Coal power plant.
Record ID 54212 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 6
Consolidated Equipment Group, Fosston
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110060260195 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
American Crystal Sugar - Crookston, Crookston
Major air pollution source. Penalties $21,780.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000594919 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
American Crystal Sugar - Crookston, Crookston
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $21,780.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000594919 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Dee Manufacturing Llc. - Foskett St, Crookston
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 5671WDNCFS132FS (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Polk County Solid Waste Facility - Fosston Industrial Park, Fosston
Major air pollution source. Penalties $3,600.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007616320 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
American Crystal Sugar - Crookston, Crookston
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $21,780.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000594919 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
New Flyer Of America Inc, Crookston
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001448238 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Dee Mfg, Crookston
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003769547 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Winger Dump Site, Winger Township
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,460.
EPA FRS registry ID 110068168949 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Crookston Wwtp, Crookston
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008796954 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Climax Wwtp, Climax
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008797025 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Erskine Attachments, Erskine
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003736119 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Viking Gas Transmission - Ang, Tabor
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110068873277 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Fosston Wwtp, Fosston
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MN0022128: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
J Rettenmaier Usa Lp, Fosston
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitric acid.
TRI facility ID 56542LNDLK710W1 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
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 Polk 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 Polk 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.

Scan an address in Polk County View on the heat map All Minnesota counties