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Butte County, South Dakota: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Butte County is 162.7 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.5 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 70 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (26), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (23), Gas station (mapped facility) (9). 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: 44.9045, -103.5074.

How this county ranks in South Dakota

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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 Butte County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	27.6	17.9	1.54x	15.1 to 46.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	46.5	30.2	1.54xSignificant	32.4 to 65.6	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	162.7	143.2	1.14x	134.9 to 195.3	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	448.8	453.4	0.99x	399.6 to 502.9	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	50.4	51.8	0.97x	35.7 to 70	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 Butte County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	5,771.7	9,842.6	-41%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	78.6	75.3	+4%	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	85.8	96.9	-11%	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.

Formaldehyde10.37 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.73 per million
Acetaldehyde0.82 per million
Benzene0.54 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing26
NPDES wastewater discharge permit23
Gas station (mapped facility)9
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)5
Brownfield property2
Major air pollution source1
Air permit holder (minor source)1
Commercial airport1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Wind power plant1

Highest-severity records

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

Vale Sanitary District, Vale
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009791788 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Wbi Energy Transmission, Inc, Belle Fourche
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110063988029 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
415 5th Ave., Belle Fourche
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040823017 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Busfield Addition Property, Belle Fourche
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110044214463 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
American Colloid Bentonite Plant, Belle Fourche
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110054631225 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Belle Fourche Muni, Belle Fourche
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID EFC (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Newell - City Of, Newell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009792279 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Nisland Wwtp, Nisland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009792395 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Belle Fourche Wtp, Belle Fourche
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041930541 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Butte Meade Sanitary Water District (Wtp), Newell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041930569 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Indian Butte Pipeline, Unknown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071319420 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Belle Fourche Wind Farm, Belle Fourche
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071319958 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Hay Creek Ranch, Belle Fourche
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071321522 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lawrence Street Phase 2, Belle Fourche
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071323723 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
6th Ave Structure, Belle Fourche
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071323880 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Pcn 084k, Belle Fourche
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071428077 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Newell, City Of, Newell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071710609 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Nisland, Town Of, Nisland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071711277 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
American Estates, Belle Fourche
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071815548 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Ridge View Estates, Belle Fourche
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071815962 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Pcn 04l0 & 06g1, Newell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071895817 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Johner Eaton / Big D, Belle Fourche
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071945156 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Gaver Road Structure Replacement, Belle Fourche
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072083558 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Pcn 09a4, Newell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072085112 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Belle Fourche Police Department, Belle Fourche
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072134199 (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 Butte County

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