OR / county FIPS 41053 / county research

Polk County, Oregon: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Polk County is 145 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Non-Hodgkin lymphoma deaths at 1.4 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 310 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (172), Rail grade crossing (92), Gas station (mapped facility) (16). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 30 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: 44.8977, -123.4282.

How this county ranks in Oregon

View on the heat map Scan an address in this county

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 Polk County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6.9	4.8	1.44xSignificant	4.9 to 9.4	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	5.6	4.4	1.27x	3.8 to 8	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	7.2	5.7	1.26x	5.1 to 9.9	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	New cases	7.5	6.2	1.21x	5.3 to 10.3	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	13.5	11.3	1.19x	10.7 to 16.8	2020-2024
Esophagus	Deaths	4.4	3.7	1.19x	2.9 to 6.6	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	16	13.9	1.15x	12.9 to 19.7	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	26.5	23.8	1.11x	22.2 to 31.5	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	20.5	18.5	1.11x	16.9 to 24.8	2019-2023
Stomach	Deaths	2.9	2.7	1.07x	1.7 to 4.8	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	20	18.7	1.07x	16.5 to 24	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	6.9	6.6	1.05x	4.9 to 9.4	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	13.2	13	1.02x	9.9 to 17.2	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	145	143.2	1.01x	135.3 to 155.2	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	8.7	8.7	1x	6.4 to 11.6	2019-2023
Stomach	New cases	6.4	6.6	0.97x	4.5 to 9	2019-2023
Bladder	Deaths	3.9	4.1	0.95x	2.5 to 5.9	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	17	17.9	0.95x	13.5 to 21.1	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	429.7	453.4	0.95x	412.4 to 447.6	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	13.6	14.5	0.94x	10.7 to 17.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	26.3	30.2	0.87x	22.4 to 30.9	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	2.8	3.4	0.82x	1.6 to 4.6	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	41.7	51.8	0.81x	36.6 to 47.3	2019-2023
Esophagus	New cases	3.7	4.6	0.8x	2.4 to 5.8	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 Polk County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	6,465.4	9,842.6	-34%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	79	75.3	+5%	years
Child mortality	45.9	59.8	-23%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	6.6	6.2	+6%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	83.4	96.9	-14%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	15.4	28.6	-46%	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 30 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde16.59 per million
Naphthalene3.7 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.99 per million
Acetaldehyde2.78 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit172
Rail grade crossing92
Gas station (mapped facility)16
Public airport7
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)6
Brownfield property4
Solar power plant3
Major air pollution source2
Air permit holder (minor source)2
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)2
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Small hazardous waste generator1
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.

Elkay Manufacturing, Independence
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $1,600.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012256986 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 10
Acpi Wood Products Llc, Independence
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Xylene (mixed isomers), Ethylbenzene, n-Butyl alcohol, Toluene. Reports carcinogens. 256,121 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 97351MDLLN625HO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.7
Marquis Hot Tubs Llc, Independence
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene, Diisocyanates. Reports carcinogens. 171,803 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 97351MRQSC596HO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.5
Elkay Manufacturing, Independence
Major air pollution source. Penalties $1,600.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012256986 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Elkay Manufacturing, Independence
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $1,600.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012256986 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Dallas Wwtp, Rickreall
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,200.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039758802 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Independence Stp, Independence
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $8,337.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009817662 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Marquis Corp. Dba Marquis Spas, Independence
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000488151 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Dallas Wtp, Dallas
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $800.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000549531 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Grand Ronde Stp, Grand Ronde
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006695950 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Falls City Shop, Falls City
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110014062780 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Atlas Mill, Falls City
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038747238 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
New Independence City Hall, Independence
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038761952 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Goodwill Property, Salem
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071985783 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Western Utility Telecom, Salem
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $14,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071268793 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Dalton Quarry, Dallas
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $16,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069563877 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Falls City Stp, Falls City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006661932 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Independence State, Independence
Public airport. O.
Record ID 7S5 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
West Gate Cleaners, Salem
Dry cleaner (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID node/11347858551 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Monmouth Stp, Monmouth
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110004789578 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
G & R Auto Wreckers, Inc, Independence
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110014101514 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Western Smelting And Metals, Dallas
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110014260735 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Meduri Farms, Inc., Dallas
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110016621100 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Odav - Independence State Airport, Independence
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069580162 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Valley Recycling & Disposal, Inc., Salem
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069604306 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8

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 Polk County

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

Scan an address in Polk County View on the heat map All Oregon counties