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McKinley County, New Mexico: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in McKinley County is 136.5 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Stomach deaths at 3.1 times the U.S. rate and Kidney & renal pelvis deaths at 2.6 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 864 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (337), Industrial wastewater discharge (224), Rail grade crossing (62). 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: 35.4868, -108.1769.

How this county ranks in New Mexico

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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 McKinley County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Stomach	Deaths	8.3	2.7	3.07xSignificant	5.5 to 12	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	8.7	3.4	2.56xSignificant	5.8 to 12.5	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	14	6.6	2.12xSignificant	10.4 to 18.6	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	29.9	17.9	1.67xSignificant	24.5 to 36.2	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	10.5	6.6	1.59xSignificant	7.4 to 14.4	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6.1	4.8	1.27x	3.7 to 9.5	2020-2024
Childhood cancer (under 15)	New cases	20.2	16.4	1.23x	11.5 to 33.1	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	10	8.7	1.15x	7 to 13.9	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	14.3	13.9	1.03x	10.6 to 19	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	136.5	143.2	0.95x	124.4 to 149.5	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	4.9	5.7	0.86x	2.9 to 7.9	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	9.5	11.3	0.84x	6.5 to 13.3	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	14.2	18.5	0.77x	10.5 to 18.8	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	320	453.4	0.71x	301.5 to 339.4	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	8.7	14.5	0.6x	5.9 to 12.3	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	6.2	13	0.48x	3.8 to 9.5	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	7.3	18.7	0.39x	4.6 to 10.8	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	14	51.8	0.27x	10.3 to 18.5	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	7.6	30.2	0.25x	5 to 11.1	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	5.9	23.8	0.25x	3.7 to 9.1	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 McKinley County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	27,592.8	9,842.6	+180%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	63.9	75.3	-15%	years
Child mortality	65.4	59.8	+9%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	6	6.2	-3%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	201.4	96.9	+108%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	30.6	28.6	+7%	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.

Formaldehyde9.75 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.37 per million
Acetaldehyde0.65 per million
Pahpom0.38 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit337
Industrial wastewater discharge224
Rail grade crossing62
Gas station (mapped facility)50
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)45
Air permit holder (minor source)43
Brownfield property29
Scrapyard (mapped facility)20
Small hazardous waste generator15
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)13
Major air pollution source7
Large greenhouse gas emitter4
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)3
Commercial airport2
Hazardous waste transporter2
Superfund (NPL) site2
Public airport1
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1
Solar power plant1
TRI reporting facility1

Highest-severity records

The 25 records with the highest Envyrofax severity in the county, with the agency identifier to cite in a records request.

United Nuclear Corp., Church Rock
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 30.4. NPL Site.
EPA site ID NMD030443303 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Prewitt Abandoned Refinery, Prewitt
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 44.2. NPL Site.
EPA site ID NMD980622773 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Western Refining Southwest Inc-Gallup Refinery, Gallup
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrogen sulfide, Ammonia, Ethylene, n-Hexane and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 50,180 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 87301GNTRFROUTE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.1
Gallup Refinery, Jamestown
Major air pollution source. Penalties $84,345.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011031052 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Gallup Refinery, Jamestown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $84,345.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011031052 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Tri-State Generation & Transmission - Escalante Station, Prewitt
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Barium compounds (except for barium sulfate (CAS No. 7727-43-7)), Manganese compounds, Hydrogen fluoride, Lead compounds and 2 more. 63,205 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 87045PLNSSCOUNT (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Gallup Refinery, Jamestown
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $84,345.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011031052 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Gallup Refinery, Jamestown
Small hazardous waste generator. Penalties $84,345.
EPA FRS registry ID 110011031052 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Gallup, City Of, Gallup
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $35,800.
EPA FRS registry ID 110030483732 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Fort Wingate High School Bia Navajo R9, Fort Wingate
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040066424 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Bio-Pappel International, Prewitt
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000600822 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Mckinley Paper & Packaging - Nm Paper Mill, Prewitt
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ethylene glycol, Dazomet, Hydrogen sulfide. 60 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 87045MCKNLCOUNT (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.4
B & R Inc., Gallup
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064780376 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
M & R Trading, Gallup
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064877851 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Star Lake Humate Mine, Cuba
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110066878971 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Pueblo Alto Humate Mine, Cuba
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110066904078 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Black Spring Mine, Ojo Encino
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070048070 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Rustic Mountain Pit (Fka Berger Gravel Pit), Gallup
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070562243 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Gallup Plastic Recycling, Llc, Gallup
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071311681 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Gallup Compressor Station, Tohatchi
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007143509 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Marathon Wingate Facility, Rehoboth
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022697312 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Transwestern Pipeline Company Llc - Thoreau Compressor Station #5, Thoreau
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022709504 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Bluewater Compressor Station, Thoreau
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022762946 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Conoco Phillips Co Wingate (Flare), Gallup
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031517017 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Red Rocks Regional Landfill, Thoreau
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110046104504 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5

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 McKinley County

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