MN / county FIPS 27165 / county research

Watonwan County, Minnesota: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Watonwan County is 163.9 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 132 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (43), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (35), Industrial wastewater discharge (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: 43.9963, -94.6142.

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 Watonwan County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Pancreas	Deaths	18.3	11.3	1.62x	10.2 to 31.1	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	34.5	23.8	1.45x	21.8 to 52.3	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	41.3	30.2	1.37x	28.3 to 58.9	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	22.3	18.7	1.19x	12.9 to 36.7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	163.9	143.2	1.14x	137.3 to 194.9	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	509.9	453.4	1.12xSignificant	457.4 to 567	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	53.2	51.8	1.03x	38.3 to 72.6	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 Watonwan County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	6,011.9	9,842.6	-39%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	79	75.3	+5%	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	80.2	96.9	-17%	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.

Formaldehyde13.43 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.96 per million
Acetaldehyde1.13 per million
Benzene0.85 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing43
NPDES wastewater discharge permit35
Industrial wastewater discharge24
Air permit holder (minor source)8
Gas station (mapped facility)8
Small hazardous waste generator2
Heliport2
Oil-fired power plant2
Major air pollution source1
Public airport1
Commercial airport1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Brownfield property1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Hazardous waste transporter1
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.

Madelia Wwtp, Madelia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039748618 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
St James, St James
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 1929 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Madelia, City Of Madelia
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 30 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Saint James Wwtp, Saint James
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000733591 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Saint James Diesel Generating Plant, Saint James
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008675567 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Olson Engineering, St. James
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008813720 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Saint James Diesel Generating Plant, Saint James
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008675567 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Butterfield Wwtp, Butterfield
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008811376 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Lewisville Wwtp, Lewisville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070503289 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
La Salle Wwtp, La Salle
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MN0067458: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.6
Greier, Lewisville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,600.
EPA FRS registry ID 110068905858 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Lasalle, La Salle
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020041239 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
St James Muni, St James
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID JYG (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Madelia Compost
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1242674027 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Odin-Ormsby Wwtp, Odin
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067806681 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Smithfield, Saint James
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000556844 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lewisville Wwtp, Lewisville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008768565 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dickens Pigs Inc, Butterfield Township
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067803620 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
North Branch Pork, Butterfield
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067812273 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Corry Pettersen Farmland Site, Lewisville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067881670 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dickens Pigs Inc Site 2, Saint James
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067976140 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Geistfeld Brothers Farm - Sec 4, Truman
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110068016435 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Pete'S 3600 Head Site, Saint James
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110068131998 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Aaron Eberhart Watonwan County Site 1, Madelia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110068223782 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Christensen Farms Site C011, Comfrey
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110068292145 (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 Watonwan 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 Watonwan 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 Watonwan County View on the heat map All Minnesota counties