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Chouteau County, Montana: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Chouteau County is 129.1 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 106 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (41), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (22), Gas station (mapped facility) (15). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 10 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: 47.8282, -110.4737.

How this county ranks in Montana

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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 Chouteau County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	32.8	30.2	1.09x	18.4 to 56.4	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	53.4	51.8	1.03x	34.8 to 80.8	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	129.1	143.2	0.9x	98.3 to 168.3	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	366.2	453.4	0.81x	307.9 to 433.4	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 Chouteau County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,966.9	9,842.6	+11%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	75.9	75.3	+1%	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	128.1	96.9	+32%	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: 10 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde8.62 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.75 per million
Acetaldehyde0.85 per million
Pahpom0.54 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing41
NPDES wastewater discharge permit22
Gas station (mapped facility)15
Brownfield property10
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)6
Public airport5
Landfill (mapped facility)2
Scrapyard (mapped facility)2
Air permit holder (minor source)1
Heliport1
Wastewater plant (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.

Highwood Wwtp, Highwood
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $1,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009860481 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
City Of Fort Benton - Gravel Pit, Fort Benton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010826044 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Twin Hills Colony, Carter
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033201087 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Fort Benton Wwtp, Fort Benton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006723108 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Fort Benton Motor Company, Fort Benton
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020339310 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Kaste'S Building, Big Sandy
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110046369826 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Big Sky Auto & Ag, Llc, Big Sandy
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071966088 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Four-Way Fuel, Big Sandy
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970560 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Milford Property, Fort Benton
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071971458 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Fort Benton Visitor Center, Fort Benton
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071971460 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Big Sandy Hotel, Big Sandy
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071971461 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Thompson Lot, Geraldine
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071977727 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Former L&R Meats, Fort Benton
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071982108 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
I.G. Baker House, Fort Benton
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071982200 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Town Of Geraldine Wwtf, Geraldine
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017889383 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Lower Dry Fork Lagoon, Box Elder
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067583537 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Big Sandy, Big Sandy
Public airport. O.
Record ID 3U8 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Geraldine, Geraldine
Public airport. O.
Record ID 5U8 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Fort Benton, Fort Benton
Public airport. O.
Record ID 79S (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Geraldine Garbage Dump
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID relation/17758746 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Wastewater Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1237359887 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Fort Benton Garbage Dump
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1293035220 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Town Of Big Sandy Wastewater Treatment Facility, Big Sandy
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070203714 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Bonneau Wwtf, Box Elder
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037097496 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Harrison Land And Livestock Pirate Lake Dam, Highwood
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037098958 (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 Chouteau County

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