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Onondaga County, New York: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Onondaga County is 137.2 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.1 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 1,818 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (563), Small hazardous waste generator (271), Large hazardous waste generator (224). 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: 43.0208, -76.2028.

How this county ranks in New York

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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 Onondaga County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	New cases	67	51.8	1.29xSignificant	64.2 to 70	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	24.1	18.7	1.29xSignificant	22.4 to 25.9	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	17.3	14.5	1.19xSignificant	15.8 to 18.9	2019-2023
Stomach	New cases	7.7	6.6	1.17xSignificant	6.8 to 8.8	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	503.7	453.4	1.11xSignificant	495.5 to 512	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	33	30.2	1.09xSignificant	31 to 35.1	2020-2024
Esophagus	Deaths	4	3.7	1.08x	3.3 to 4.8	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	13.9	13	1.07x	12.4 to 15.5	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	19.6	18.5	1.06x	18 to 21.2	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	4.6	4.4	1.05x	3.8 to 5.4	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	18.3	17.9	1.02x	16.7 to 20	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	8.7	8.7	1x	7.7 to 9.8	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	11.3	11.3	1x	10.2 to 12.6	2020-2024
Thyroid	Deaths	0.5	0.5	1x	0.3 to 0.8	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	23.5	23.8	0.99x	21.7 to 25.4	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	13.7	13.9	0.99x	12.4 to 15.1	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	6	6.2	0.97x	5.1 to 7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	137.2	143.2	0.96x	133 to 141.4	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	5.4	5.7	0.95x	4.6 to 6.2	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	4.3	4.6	0.93x	3.6 to 5.1	2019-2023
Bladder	Deaths	3.8	4.1	0.93x	3.1 to 4.5	2020-2024
Stomach	Deaths	2.4	2.7	0.89x	1.8 to 3	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	3	3.4	0.88x	2.4 to 3.6	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	Deaths	1.7	2	0.85x	1.2 to 2.2	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	3.8	4.8	0.79x	3.2 to 4.6	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	4.8	6.6	0.73x	4.1 to 5.7	2020-2024
Childhood cancer (under 15)	New cases	11.8	16.4	0.72x	8.7 to 15.6	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 Onondaga County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	7,762.2	9,842.6	-21%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	77.7	75.3	+3%	years
Child mortality	45.3	59.8	-24%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	5.7	6.2	-7%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	81.1	96.9	-16%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	37.7	28.6	+32%	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.

Formaldehyde14.32 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.99 per million
Benzene1.61 per million
Acetaldehyde1.53 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 358 days: 298 good, 4 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 36, peak 125.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

1,818 active records inside the county from EPA ECHO, TRI, Superfund, Brownfields, NPDES, EIA, FAA, FRA and corrections data.

NPDES wastewater discharge permit563
Small hazardous waste generator271
Large hazardous waste generator224
Air permit holder (minor source)165
Gas station (mapped facility)164
Rail grade crossing122
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)112
Brownfield property43
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)32
TRI reporting facility27
Landfill (mapped facility)16
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)15
Major air pollution source11
Public airport9
Large greenhouse gas emitter9
Hazardous waste transporter8
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)7
Solar power plant6
Heliport3
Gas power plant2
EPA air quality monitor1
Airfield1
Commercial airport1
Crematorium (mapped facility)1
Battery storage plant1
Biomass power plant1
Hydroelectric plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
Superfund (NPL) site1

Highest-severity records

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

Onondaga Lake, Syracuse
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 50. NPL Site.
EPA site ID NYD986913580 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Anheuser-Busch Llc, Baldwinsville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Ammonia, Hydrogen sulfide, Sulfuric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size) and 2 more. Reports carcinogens. 6,141,650 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13027NHSRB2885B (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.7
Westrock - Solvay, Llc, Syracuse
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009824547 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9
Westrock - Solvay Llc, Syracuse
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Hydrogen sulfide, Lead compounds, Mercury compounds and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 99,534 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13209SLVYP53IND (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.3
Solvents & Petroleum Service, Syracuse
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ethylene glycol, Methanol, Toluene, Tetrachloroethylene and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 28,339 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13208SLVNT1405B (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.9
Anoplate Corp, Syracuse
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitric acid, Nickel compounds, Nickel And Nickel Compounds, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution) and 2 more. Reports carcinogens. 10,000 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13204NPLTC459PU (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.6
Crucible Industries Llc., Solvay
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium, Nitric acid, Nickel, Copper and 2 more. Reports carcinogens. 5,742 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13209CRCBLSTATE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.4
Anheuser Busch Baldwinsville Brewery, Baldwinsville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000325096 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.3
Bodycote Syracuse Heat Treating Corp, Syracuse
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071081758 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.3
Meloon Foundries Inc, Syracuse
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000325513 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.1
General Chemical Llc, Syracuse
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $2,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110019184149 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.1
Wabash Aluminum Alloys Llc - Syracuse Plant, Syracuse
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $25,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017118199 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Safety-Kleen Systems, Syracuse
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000325648 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Cooper Crouse-Hinds Llc, Syracuse
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Zinc compounds, Lead, Copper. Reports carcinogens. 1,070 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13221CRSHNWOLFA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.8
Safety-Kleen Systems Syracuse (Syr), Syracuse
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Ethylene glycol, Benzo[g,h,i]perylene, Lead and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 751 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13211SFTYK6741V (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
John Mezzalingua Associates Llc Dba Jma Wireless, Liverpool
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead, Copper. Reports carcinogens. 692 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13088CMBRD7645H (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Chemtrade Solutions-Syracuse, Syracuse
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Sodium nitrite, Ammonia, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution). 56,969 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13209GNRLCWILLI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Westrock - Solvay, Llc, Syracuse
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009824547 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Eagle Comtronics Inc., Liverpool
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens. 296 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13088GLCMT7665H (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.4
Omega Wire, Inc. - Jordan Plant, Jordan
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000325363 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.3
Feldmeier Equipment Inc, Syracuse
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium, Manganese, Nickel. Reports carcinogens. 96 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 13211FLDMR68TWN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6
Westrock - Solvay, Llc, Syracuse
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009824547 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Metropolitan Syracuse Wwtp, Syracuse
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $156,990.
EPA FRS registry ID 110019391736 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Bodycote Syracuse Heat Treating Corp., Syracuse
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia. 5,953 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 1320WBDYCT8DWIG (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.9
Crucible Industries Llc, Solvay
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $4,170.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000325611 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8

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 Onondaga County

New York 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 Onondaga County, and their findings.
New York 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 York health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
New York 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 York 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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