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Cotton County, Oklahoma: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Cotton County is 189.8 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 2.2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 76 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (41), Air permit holder (minor source) (17), Gas station (mapped facility) (7). 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: 34.2498, -98.3745.

How this county ranks in Oklahoma

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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 Cotton County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	67.1	30.2	2.22xSignificant	45.1 to 98.3	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	72.2	51.8	1.39x	49.1 to 104.6	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	189.8	143.2	1.33xSignificant	150.2 to 238.4	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	473.5	453.4	1.04x	404.8 to 551.5	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 Cotton County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	12,787.7	9,842.6	+30%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	71.1	75.3	-5%	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	149.6	96.9	+54%	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: 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.

Formaldehyde17.77 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.86 per million
Acetaldehyde1.3 per million
Benzene0.69 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing41
Air permit holder (minor source)17
Gas station (mapped facility)7
NPDES wastewater discharge permit4
Public airport3
Brownfield property3
Scrapyard (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.

Temple Haggar Building (Hag T), Temple
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038749147 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Cotton County Courthouse/Jail, Walters
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038755898 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Walters Armory, Walters
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071964949 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Walters, City Of, Walters
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $750.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020064400 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Walters Muni, Walters
Public airport. O.
Record ID 3O5 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Devol, Town Of, Devol
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020064419 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Temple, Town Of, Temple
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022636520 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Love'S Travel Stops And Country Stores- 734, Randlett
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070882781 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Attebury Grain Inc. Temple,Ok., Temple
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110001644187 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Temple Milling Co / Temple, Temple
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110001645195 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Hathaway Simpson / Hathaway Simpson Trailers, Walters
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110007165254 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Texoma Crude Oil Pipeline Co Llc / Devol Station, Devol
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110024890518 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Us Cellular / Randlett 751378, Randlett
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110055600345 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Verizon Wireless / Randlett, Randlett
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110055602281 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
New Cingular Wireless Pcs Llc Dba At An / Walters Relo Ok1322, Walters
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110069992981 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Us Cellular / Cookietown 751314, Walters
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110069993090 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Tmobile Central Llc / T Mobile Walters, Walters
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110070360736 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
New Cingular Wireless Pcs Llc Dba At An / John Henry Hyatt Fa14435268, Randlett
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110070520811 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Western Farmers Electric Cooperative / Grandfield Sw, Chattanooga
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110070616482 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Loves Travel Stops And Country Stores I / Loves Travel Stop 734, Randlett
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110070692954 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
New Cingular Wireless Pcs Llc Dba At An / Awe Randlett 10106543, Randlett
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110071064004 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Tmobile Central Llc / Ok01536c Geronimo 2, Geronimo
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110071084113 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Tmobile Central Llc / Ok01537b Randlett Nw, Randlett
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110071084114 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
New Cingular Wireless Pcs Llc Dba At An / Temple 10110191, Temple
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110071092073 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Loves Travel Stops And Country Stores I / Loves Travel Stop 168, Walters
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110071724205 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1

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 Cotton County

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