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Jim Wells County, Texas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Jim Wells County is 180.4 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Liver & bile duct deaths at 3.1 times the U.S. rate and Kidney & renal pelvis deaths at 2.1 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 139 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (60), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (45), Air permit holder (minor source) (7). 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: 27.6631, -98.0871.

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 Jim Wells County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Liver & bile duct	New cases	27.4	8.7	3.15xSignificant	21 to 35.1	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	20.5	6.6	3.11xSignificant	15.1 to 27.3	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	38	17.9	2.12xSignificant	30.1 to 47.3	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	7	3.4	2.06xSignificant	4 to 11.6	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	9.5	6.6	1.44x	5.7 to 14.8	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	180.4	143.2	1.26xSignificant	163.3 to 199	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	14.2	11.3	1.26x	9.5 to 20.3	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	16.4	13.9	1.18x	11.5 to 22.7	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	13.3	13	1.02x	8.6 to 19.7	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	454.3	453.4	1x	426.2 to 483.8	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	14.3	14.5	0.99x	9.6 to 20.5	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	15.5	18.5	0.84x	10.6 to 21.8	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	25	30.2	0.83x	19.1 to 32.4	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	35.4	51.8	0.68x	28.2 to 44.1	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	12.6	18.7	0.67x	8.4 to 18.3	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	7	23.8	0.29x	3.9 to 11.5	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 Jim Wells County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	14,381.7	9,842.6	+46%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	71.2	75.3	-5%	years
Child mortality	52.7	59.8	-12%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	6.1	6.2	-1%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	79.2	96.9	-18%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	16.9	28.6	-41%	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.

Formaldehyde17.07 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.87 per million
Acetaldehyde1.07 per million
Benzene0.51 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing60
NPDES wastewater discharge permit45
Air permit holder (minor source)7
Gas station (mapped facility)7
Hazardous waste transporter5
Public airport3
Major air pollution source2
Commercial airport2
Small hazardous waste generator2
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Heliport1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
Gas power plant1
TRI reporting facility1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)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.

Coastal Chemical Co. Llc, Alice
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Ethylene glycol, Diethanolamine. 27,480 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 7833WCSTLC611EH (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.4
Coastal Chemical, Alice
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043694758 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.4
City Of Orange Grove Wwtp, Orange Grove
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $54,225.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009781860 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
City Of Alice, Alice
Major air pollution source. Penalties $5,250.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038447696 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Dcp Midstream Llp - Los Olmos Compressor Station, Falfurrias
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110066895131 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Northeast Regional Wwtp, Alice
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067132267 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
La Gloria Gas Plant, Falfurrias
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056973155 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Southside Wwtp, Alice
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039894923 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Wal791, Alice
Gas power plant.
Record ID 64804 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 3
La Gloria Gas Plant, Falfurrias
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056973155 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
San Diego Wwtp, San Diego
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $17,387.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009781584 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
La Gloria Gas Plant, Falfurrias
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056973155 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Alice Intl, Alice
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID ALI (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
City of Alice Landfill
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/738093332 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Alice Brackish Wtp, Alice
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071337321 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
City Of Alice (South), Alice
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000753792 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Dixie Iron Works, Alice
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110005144101 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Grey Wolf Drilling Co, Alice
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110006134174 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Alamo Concrete Products Plant 70, Alice
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009784830 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Knolle Dairy 5, Sandia
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020146386 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Howell Cattle, Premont
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110020547924 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Wal791, Alice
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110031342633 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Alice International Airport, Alice
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033284345 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Alice Facility, Alice
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033484575 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
City Of Alice Service Center, Alice
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110034261251 (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 Jim Wells 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 Jim Wells 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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