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Dawson County, Texas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Dawson County is 179.3 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. Federal databases place 43 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (17), Gas station (mapped facility) (8), Air permit holder (minor source) (4). 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: 32.7271, -101.9476.

How this county ranks in Texas

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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 Dawson County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	38	17.9	2.12xSignificant	24.9 to 55.9	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	179.3	143.2	1.25xSignificant	148.1 to 215.3	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	463.5	453.4	1.02x	412.3 to 519.3	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	23.4	30.2	0.77x	13.3 to 38.4	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	37.7	51.8	0.73x	24.3 to 55.9	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 Dawson County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	12,750.7	9,842.6	+30%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	70.7	75.3	-6%	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	103.4	96.9	+7%	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.

Formaldehyde14.82 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.67 per million
Benzene2.05 per million
Acetaldehyde0.98 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit17
Gas station (mapped facility)8
Air permit holder (minor source)4
Major air pollution source3
Small hazardous waste generator3
Public airport2
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)2
Solar power plant2
Commercial airport1
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.

Red River No 2 Lamesa, Lamesa
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040925639 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Wonderwall Porch Muzzle Battery, Patricia
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071667228 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Lamesa Facility, Lamesa
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072142041 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
City Of Lamesa Wwtp, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064612619 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Lamesa Muni, Lamesa
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID LUV (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Sun Oil Co Sarah Ruffin, Dawson County
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008138568 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Sun Oil Co W E Love, Dawson County
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008138942 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Tst Paraffin Inc, Welch
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008163664 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lamesa Odonnell Compress Lamesa Plant, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110034019201 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Sam Stevens, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110034254312 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
City Of Lamesa Municipal Solid Waste Landfill, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110034364872 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lamesa Texas Facility, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070358015 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Jarvis Metals Lamesa Recycling, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070358171 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Daviswetzel Group Pit, Odonnell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070506641 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lamesa High School, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070563980 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lbb Csj 0068-09-012, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070825084 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Toot N Totum, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071337276 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Alpine Silica, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071364835 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Energy In Motion Us- J&K Site, Patricia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071708969 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
15-Inch Sewer Main Relocation Project, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071817799 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lbb Csj 0068-05-040, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071884896 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lamesa Sand Plant, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071944099 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Key Sub-Willow Valley Sw 138kv Rebuild, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072150087 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lbb Csj 0380-06-019, Lamesa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072158146 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Lamesa Cotton Oil Mill, Lamesa
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110002400562 (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 Dawson County

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