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Quay County, New Mexico: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Quay County is 171.2 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 133 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (33), Rail grade crossing (30), Gas station (mapped facility) (28). 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: 35.1689, -103.5544.

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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 Quay County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	23.3	17.9	1.3x	12.4 to 41.1	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	171.2	143.2	1.2x	141.1 to 207.1	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	29.6	30.2	0.98x	18.4 to 46.9	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	45.5	51.8	0.88x	31.8 to 64.9	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	392.5	453.4	0.87x	343 to 447.9	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 Quay County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	16,626.9	9,842.6	+69%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	70.3	75.3	-7%	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	131.2	96.9	+35%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	47.2	28.6	+65%	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.

Formaldehyde11.44 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.58 per million
Acetaldehyde0.74 per million
Benzene0.53 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit33
Rail grade crossing30
Gas station (mapped facility)28
Air permit holder (minor source)12
Scrapyard (mapped facility)8
Brownfield property6
Public airport3
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)3
Wind power plant3
Small hazardous waste generator2
Major air pollution source1
Commercial airport1
Oil-fired power plant1
Solar power 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.

Tucumcari, City Of, Tucumcari
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000762354 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Quay County, Tucumcari
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 58125 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Quay County Generating Plant, Tucumcari
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055609541 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
House Municipal School District Property, House
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038749673 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Union Station Railroad Depot, Tucumcari
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038750152 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Tucumcari Truck Terminal, Tucumcari
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041619718 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Sands Dorsey, Tucumcari
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045400598 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Tucumcari Water System, Tucumcari
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071442260 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Water Salesman Property, Tucumcari
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071983680 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Tucumcari Muni, Tucumcari
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID TCC (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Wastewater Treatment Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/364439117 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Eastern Nm Rural Water System, Logan
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071952518 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Ups - Tucumcari, Tucumcari
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022755589 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Tucumcari Feedyard, Tucumcari
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055637431 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Tucumcari Recycling, Tucumcari
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110066919080 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
San Jon Pipe Installation, San Jon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070050399 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Water Distribution Improvement Project Phase Ii, San Jon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070051725 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Nmdot Control Number (Cn) 4100320, Tucumcari
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070052147 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Tucumcari Ml Replacement, Tucumcari
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070066570 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
New Mexico Repower, House
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070160053 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Casa Mesa Wind, House
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070213963 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Cn-4100401r Quay County N.M Bridge #5285, Logan
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071131457 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Ama-2494-01-015, Amarillo
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071203948 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Ama-2494-01-015, Amarillo
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071205129 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Tucumcari Hoover Tank Project, Tucumcari
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071251979 (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 Quay 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 Quay 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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