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Wallowa County, Oregon: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Wallowa County is 175.5 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 78 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (25), Rail grade crossing (21), Public airport (18). 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: 45.5323, -117.1294.

How this county ranks in Oregon

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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 Wallowa County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
All cancer	Deaths	175.5	143.2	1.23x	142.7 to 215.1	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	20.6	18.7	1.1x	11.9 to 36.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	32.2	30.2	1.07x	20.3 to 51.3	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	366.8	453.4	0.81x	318.1 to 422.4	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	30.7	51.8	0.59x	19.9 to 48.5	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 Wallowa County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	8,462.5	9,842.6	-14%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	77.7	75.3	+3%	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	139.1	96.9	+43%	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.

Formaldehyde11.17 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.61 per million
Acetaldehyde1.46 per million
Naphthalene0.97 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 365 days: 311 good, 0 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 26, peak 88.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit25
Rail grade crossing21
Public airport18
Brownfield property3
Gas station (mapped facility)3
EPA air quality monitor2
Hydroelectric plant2
Commercial airport1
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Industrial wastewater discharge1
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.

Joseph Stp, Joseph
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009817378 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Wallowa Falls Hydro Intake And Trailrace Modifications, Joseph
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070624937 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Integrated Biomass Resources, Wallowa
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007169919 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Wolfe Conservation Easement, Wallowa
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071963895 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center, Wallowa
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071966802 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Hells Canyon Power Plant, Wallowa County
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071710796 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Wallowa Stp, Wallowa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006696441 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Big Bar Usfs, Lucile
Public airport. O.
Record ID 1DA (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Memaloose Usfs, Imnaha
Public airport. O.
Record ID 25U (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Reds Horse Ranch Usfs, Enterprise
Public airport. O.
Record ID 68D (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Enterprise Muni, Enterprise
Public airport. O.
Record ID 8S4 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Joseph State, Joseph
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID JSY (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Pittsburg Landing, Imnaha
Public airport. O.
Record ID O29 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Salmon Bar, Imnaha
Public airport. O.
Record ID O48 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
B & H Usfs, Enterprise
Public airport. O.
Record ID O62 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Sluice Creek, Imnaha
Public airport. O.
Record ID O68 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Dug Bar Usfs, Imnaha
Public airport. O.
Record ID OR8 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Lord Flat Usfs, Imnaha
Public airport. O.
Record ID OR9 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Wastewater Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/183935874 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Enterprise Stp, Enterprise
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009155877 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Wallowa State Fish Hatchery, Enterprise
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110037830979 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
City Of Enterprise, Oregon Water System Improvements - 2015, Enterprise
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069572821 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Wallowa River - Baker Restoration Fish Habitat - Phase 1, Wallowa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070048373 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Mountain Meadows Subdivision, Joseph
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071095217 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Wastewater System Improvements, City Of Joseph, Joseph
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071405507 (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 Wallowa 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 Wallowa 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.

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