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Gaines County, Texas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Gaines County is 142 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 112 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility) (26), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (22), Gas station (mapped facility) (20). 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: 32.7341, -102.6351.

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 Gaines County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	27	23.8	1.13x	17.4 to 40	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	17.9	17.9	1x	10.4 to 28.7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	142	143.2	0.99x	116.8 to 170.8	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	29.1	30.2	0.96x	18.5 to 43.2	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	341.4	453.4	0.75x	303.1 to 383.1	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	32.2	51.8	0.62x	21.2 to 46.7	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 Gaines County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,585.2	9,842.6	+8%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	73.8	75.3	-2%	years
Child mortality	78.5	59.8	+31%	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	77.4	96.9	-20%	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.

Formaldehyde15.66 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.64 per million
Benzene2.56 per million
Acetaldehyde0.93 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)26
NPDES wastewater discharge permit22
Gas station (mapped facility)20
Major air pollution source10
Air permit holder (minor source)9
Rail grade crossing5
Scrapyard (mapped facility)5
Small hazardous waste generator4
Public airport2
TRI reporting facility2
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)2
Commercial airport1
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Hazardous waste transporter1
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.

Hess Seminole Gas Processing Plant, Seminole
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrogen sulfide, Propylene, Benzene, Methanol and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 77,892 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7936WHSSSMHWY21 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.3
Seminole Gas Processing Plant, Seminole
Major air pollution source. Penalties $269,572.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033349552 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Hobbs Fractionation Plant, Seminole
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: n-Hexane, Cyclohexane, Benzene, Toluene and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 6,768 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7936WHBBSF461CR (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.4
Seminole Gas Processing Plant, Seminole
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $269,572.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033349552 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Hess Seminole Gas Processing Plant, Seminole
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045562976 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Hobbs Fractionation Plant, Seminole
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071399015 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.6
City Of Seminole Wwtp, Seminole
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009770596 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Russell Compressor Stn, Denver City
Major air pollution source. Penalties $129,375.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040992478 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Dynegy Midstream Services, L.P., Seminole
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007177651 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Riley Booster Station, Seminole
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007207003 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Loop Complex, Loop
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007397548 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
North Riley Central Battery, Seminole
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015743114 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Gaines Pump Station, Seminole
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017835903 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Robertson Clearfork Unit Rcu B6074 Battery, Seminole
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070192472 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Brushy Bill Cattle Drive Facility Site, Allred
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071524377 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
West San Andres Unit, Denver City
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071910002 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
La Tierra Wwtp, Seminole
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $16,875.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064855919 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
The Park, Seminole
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064876442 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Gaines County, Seminole
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID GNC (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Quality Dry Cleaner, Seminole
Dry cleaner (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID node/4559272083 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Wastewater Plant
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/611034613 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Anderson Welding ; Machine Svc, Seminole
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110005045209 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Texaco E & P Inc, Seminole
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110005154787 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Sun Oil Co E H Jones Wpm, Gaines County
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008138498 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Sun Oil Co Terrell A, Gaines County
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008139585 (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 Gaines 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 Gaines 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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