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Washington County, Missouri: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Washington County is 226 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 2.2 times the U.S. rate and Liver & bile duct deaths at 1.8 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 192 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (64), Rail grade crossing (54), Industrial wastewater discharge (28). One correctional facility operates in the county. EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 30 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: 37.9726, -90.8679.

How this county ranks in Missouri

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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 Washington County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	67.1	30.2	2.22xSignificant	55.2 to 81.2	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	16.6	8.7	1.91xSignificant	10.6 to 25	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	92.9	51.8	1.79xSignificant	78.6 to 109.4	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	11.7	6.6	1.77xSignificant	7 to 18.8	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	226	143.2	1.58xSignificant	202.3 to 251.9	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	25.9	17.9	1.45xSignificant	18.2 to 36.1	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	18.2	14.5	1.26x	11.7 to 27.2	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	23.1	18.7	1.24x	16.3 to 32.2	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	15.8	13	1.22x	9.2 to 25.1	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	505.6	453.4	1.12xSignificant	469.7 to 543.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	12.1	11.3	1.07x	7.1 to 19.6	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	19.4	18.5	1.05x	12.9 to 28.4	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	14.4	23.8	0.61x	8.9 to 22.4	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 Washington County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	15,931.1	9,842.6	+62%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	69.7	75.3	-7%	years
Child mortality	50.6	59.8	-15%	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	136.1	96.9	+40%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	60.1	28.6	+110%	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 30 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde18.24 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.91 per million
Acetaldehyde1.76 per million
Benzene0.79 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit64
Rail grade crossing54
Industrial wastewater discharge28
Air permit holder (minor source)17
Gas station (mapped facility)11
Superfund (NPL) site4
Small hazardous waste generator3
Brownfield property2
Large hazardous waste generator2
Major air pollution source1
Public airport1
Correctional facility (prison or jail)1
Hazardous waste transporter1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
TRI reporting facility1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)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.

Washington County Lead District - Potosi, Potosi
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 50. NPL Site.
EPA site ID MON000705023 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Washington County Lead District - Old Mines, Old Mines
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 76.8. NPL Site.
EPA site ID MON000705027 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Washington County Lead District - Richwoods, Richwoods
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 76.8. NPL Site.
EPA site ID MON000705032 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Washington County Lead District - Furnace Creek, Caledonia
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 50. NPL Site.
EPA site ID MON000705842 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Buckman Laboratories Inc., Cadet
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Dimethylamine, 1,2-Dichloroethane, Bis(2-chloroethyl) ether, Dichloromethane and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 4,066 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 63630BCKMNHIGHW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.3
Buckman Laboratories Inc, Cadet
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017980443 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Buckman Laboratories Inc, Cadet
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017980443 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Pea Ridge Resources, Sullivan
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017983529 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Caledonia Wwtf, Caledonia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020155455 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Timber Ridge Landfill Company, Richwoods
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020049035 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Mineral Point Well 1, Mineral Point
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045508492 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Washington County Pwsd 4 Wwtp, Caledonia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037932173 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Juliette Properties And Investments Wwtf, Belgrade
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006730225 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Timber Ridge Landfill Company, Richwoods
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020049035 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Grandview Plaza Mhp-Well #2, Potosi
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009876152 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Buckman Laboratories Inc, Cadet
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017980443 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Kingston K-14 School Wwtp, Cadet
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064350223 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Village Inn Trailer Court Wwtp, Potosi
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070144952 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Ida North Park (Aka L. Pederson Site), Mineral Point
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038762336 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Ida Mineral Point Referral Site (Aka Double D), Mineral Point
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038762345 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Dm Express, Inc., Potosi
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID x8b1734834936223e5e73d2a9478d6ac9 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Caldera Holding Llc, Sullivan
Industrial wastewater discharge. Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0000574: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 3
Kingston K-14 School Wwtp, Cadet
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit MO0087921: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.8
Potosi Wwtf #2, Mineral Point
Industrial wastewater discharge. Significant/Category I Noncompliance.
NPDES permit MO0099732: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.8
Potosi Wwtp No. 1, Potosi
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit MO0099431: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.8

Correctional facilities

Prisons, jails and corrections operations with an EPA facility record, and the drinking water and wastewater compliance attached to them.

Potosi Correctional Center-Office Admin., Mineral Point
EPA FRS registry ID
110042765638
Wastewater permit
None on record
EPA detailed facility report

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Washington County

Missouri 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 Washington County, and their findings.
Missouri vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
Missouri health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
Missouri 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.
Missouri 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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