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Steele County, Minnesota: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Steele County is 148.3 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 343 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (117), Industrial wastewater discharge (51), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (38). 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: 44.0224, -93.2261.

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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 Steele 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	45.5	23.8	1.91xSignificant	36.6 to 55.9	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	26.6	18.5	1.44xSignificant	20.6 to 34	2019-2023
Esophagus	New cases	6.2	4.6	1.35x	3.5 to 10.5	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	5.8	4.8	1.21x	3.3 to 9.6	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	6.8	5.7	1.19x	3.9 to 11.2	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	9.9	8.7	1.14x	6.3 to 14.9	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	7	6.2	1.13x	3.9 to 11.8	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	14.2	13	1.09x	9.3 to 20.8	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	7.2	6.6	1.09x	4.4 to 11.5	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	55.3	51.8	1.07x	46.4 to 65.6	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	471.9	453.4	1.04x	444.3 to 500.9	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	148.3	143.2	1.04x	133.7 to 164.2	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	30.8	30.2	1.02x	24.5 to 38.5	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	17.9	18.7	0.96x	13 to 24.2	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	16.4	17.9	0.92x	11.7 to 22.6	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	13	14.5	0.9x	8.9 to 18.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	9.9	11.3	0.88x	6.5 to 14.7	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	11.1	13.9	0.8x	7.5 to 16.1	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 Steele County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	6,151.3	9,842.6	-38%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	80	75.3	+6%	years
Child mortality	40.5	59.8	-32%	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	71.4	96.9	-26%	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.

Formaldehyde13.96 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.95 per million
Benzene1.21 per million
Acetaldehyde1.2 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing117
Industrial wastewater discharge51
NPDES wastewater discharge permit38
Air permit holder (minor source)30
Gas station (mapped facility)26
Small hazardous waste generator17
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)15
TRI reporting facility13
Solar power plant9
Major air pollution source5
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)4
Large hazardous waste generator3
Brownfield property2
Hazardous waste transporter2
Landfill (mapped facility)2
Gas power plant2
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)2
Commercial airport1
Heliport1
Oil-fired power plant1
Wind power plant1
Scrapyard (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.

Crown Food Packaging, Owatonna
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: n-Butyl alcohol, Certain glycol ethers, 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene, Lead and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 914,281 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 55060CRWNC2929W (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.1
Rayven Llc - Owatonna, Owatonna
Major air pollution source. Penalties $17,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040747975 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Rayven Llc - Owatonna, Owatonna
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $17,500.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040747975 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Daikin Applied Owatonna Mn, Owatonna
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium, Manganese, Nickel, Copper and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 1,039 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 55060MCQYN10012 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.8
Viracon Llc, Owatonna
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Certain glycol ethers. 73,665 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 55060VRCNN800PA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Crown Cork & Seal, Owatonna
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000423809 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Ccm - Owatonna, Owatonna
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Lead. Reports carcinogens. 231 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 5506WCCMWT639RI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.3
Life Fitness Llc, Owatonna
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese, Nickel. Reports carcinogens. 211 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 55060CYBXN19752 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.3
Wenger Corp, Owatonna
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese, Chromium, Nickel, Lead. Reports carcinogens. 85 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 55060WNGRC555PA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6
Viracon Inc - 800, Owatonna
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000423836 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.9
Cargill Inc, Blooming Prairie
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Formic acid, Peracetic acid. 2,680 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 55917VKNGC157WE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.6
Tandem Products Inc, Blooming Prairie
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese, Chromium, Copper, Lead and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 8 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 55917TNDMP520IN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.2
Arkema Inc, Blooming Prairie
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000426502 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.2
Daikin Applied Owatonna Mn, Owatonna
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001131025 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Tcc - Medford, Medford
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens. 1 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 5504WNRTHS2173N (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.8
Life Fitness Owatonna, Owatonna
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031001537 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Wenger Corp, Owatonna
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110003745485 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.6
Truth Hardware Corp-Owatonna, Owatonna
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 55060TRTHH700WB (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Tcc Materials - Medford, Medford
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 5504WTCCMT8521S (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Cemstone Batch Plant, Owatonna
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 5506WCMSTN31532 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Owatonna Waste Treatment Plant, Owatonna
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,980.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008814934 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Climate By Design, Owatonna
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nickel, Chromium, Manganese. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 5506WCLMTB2FEST (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Jostens Inc - Owatonna, Owatonna
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000497427 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Tandem Products Inc, Blooming Prairie
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000426496 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.1
Blooming Prairie, Blooming Prairie
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 1966 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4

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 Steele 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 Steele 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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