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Lake County, Montana: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Lake County is 147.9 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 195 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (79), Rail grade crossing (54), Brownfield property (26). 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: 47.5953, -114.125.

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 Lake County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Bladder	Deaths	6.6	4.1	1.61x	3.7 to 11.3	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	19.7	13	1.52xSignificant	13.2 to 28.2	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	26.4	18.7	1.41xSignificant	19.7 to 34.7	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6.2	4.8	1.29x	3.6 to 10.5	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	12.9	11.3	1.14x	8.7 to 18.6	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	27.1	23.8	1.14x	20.2 to 35.8	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	15.8	13.9	1.14x	11.2 to 22	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	20.7	18.5	1.12x	15.2 to 27.8	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	473.1	453.4	1.04x	444.3 to 503.6	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	147.9	143.2	1.03x	132.9 to 164.3	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	51.3	51.8	0.99x	43 to 61.1	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	14.3	14.5	0.99x	9.4 to 21	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	28.4	30.2	0.94x	22.3 to 36.1	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	7	8.7	0.8x	4 to 11.6	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	5.2	6.6	0.79x	2.9 to 9.1	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	12.2	17.9	0.68x	7.8 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 Lake County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	11,702.5	9,842.6	+19%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	75.8	75.3	+1%	years
Child mortality	79.8	59.8	+34%	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	123.3	96.9	+27%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	30.2	28.6	+6%	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.

Formaldehyde11.06 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.69 per million
Acetaldehyde1.55 per million
Naphthalene0.98 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 95 days: 92 good, 0 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 11, peak 79.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit79
Rail grade crossing54
Brownfield property26
Gas station (mapped facility)14
Public airport5
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)4
Air permit holder (minor source)3
Small hazardous waste generator2
Hazardous waste transporter2
Scrapyard (mapped facility)2
EPA air quality monitor1
Heliport1
Hydroelectric plant1
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.

Neals Wrecking, Ronan
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040684872 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Ronan City Wwtf, Ronan
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039894978 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Woodcock Home Addition, Pablo
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009002033 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
St. Ignatius-Southside, St. Ignatius
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009860445 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Ravalli Store, Ravalli
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020254080 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Steve Ely Home Property, Ronan
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038735786 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
North Crow Home Site, Ronan
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038736339 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Old Char-Koostan News, Pablo
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038755736 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
St. Ignatius Dump, St. Ignatius
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038755745 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Elmo Cash Store, Elmo
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038756012 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Amber Olson Home Property, Polson
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038762826 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Steve Ray Burland Home Property, Polson
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038762835 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Rim Rock Bullets, Ronan
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070282852 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Miller Home East Of Arlee, Montana, Arlee
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071967716 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Valley Creek Former Nicholson Ranch, Ravalli
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970905 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Former Ronan Landfill, Ronan
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970906 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Old Community Dump Site, Charlo
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970907 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Tribal Trust Site, Ronan
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970908 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Joseph Allottment, Elmo
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071970909 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Flathead Indian Irrigation Project Building 1001, Charlo
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071973309 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Flathead Indian Irrigation Project Building 1211, Polson
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071973310 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Mcleod Property, Charlo
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071976888 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Dupuis Smoke Signal, Ronan
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071977179 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Koostahtah Hall, Elmo
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071979180 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Joe'S Jiffy Stop, Pablo
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071980208 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
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 Lake 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 Lake 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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