TX / county FIPS 48351 / county research

Newton County, Texas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Newton County is 185.6 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.6 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 64 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (27), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (17), Gas station (mapped facility) (5). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 30 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: 30.7153, -93.7449.

How this county ranks in Texas

View on the heat map Scan an address in this county

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 Newton County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Pancreas	Deaths	18	11.3	1.59x	10 to 30.7	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	46.9	30.2	1.55xSignificant	34.3 to 63.5	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	28.5	18.7	1.52x	17.8 to 43.9	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	71.9	51.8	1.39xSignificant	56.3 to 91.5	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	23.5	17.9	1.31x	13.6 to 38.2	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	185.6	143.2	1.3xSignificant	157.2 to 218.3	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	525.1	453.4	1.16xSignificant	475.1 to 579.3	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	19.7	18.5	1.06x	11.6 to 32.3	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 Newton County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	14,449.8	9,842.6	+47%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	71.8	75.3	-5%	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	115.3	96.9	+19%	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: 30 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde22.99 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.91 per million
Ethylene Oxide2.48 per million
Acetaldehyde1.95 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing27
NPDES wastewater discharge permit17
Gas station (mapped facility)5
Major air pollution source3
Air permit holder (minor source)2
Public airport2
Small hazardous waste generator2
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Industrial wastewater discharge1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
Hydroelectric plant1
Gas 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.

Cottonwood Energy Project, Deweyville
Gas power plant.
Record ID 55358 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4.1
Southern Forest Products, Newton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $15,854.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009748666 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Cottonwood Energy Company Lp, Deweyville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012181673 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Georgia-Pacific - Bon Wier Plywood Plant, Bon Wier
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000599022 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Cottonwood Energy Company Lp, Deweyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012181673 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Western Waste Of Texas Newton Complex, Deweyville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043994087 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Georgia-Pacific - Bon Wier Plywood Plant, Bon Wier
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000599022 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Cottonwood Energy Company Lp, Deweyville
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012181673 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Western Waste Of Texas Newton Complex, Deweyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043994087 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Tetlp - M&R 73298 Cottonwood, Deweyville
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070558379 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
City Of Newton Wwtp, Newton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064649091 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Newton Muni, Newton
Public airport. O.
Record ID 61R (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Newton County Solid Waste Complex
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1261870922 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Toledo Bend Dam, Burkeville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033175481 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Mineraltech Deweyville Plant, Deweyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071363087 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Mcleod Timber Products, Newton
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110005112831 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Grafford Auto, Newton
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008135918 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Claybar Sandpit Hwy 87, Orange
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070369833 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Cloeren, Orange
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070371556 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Apac-Texas Newton Sandpit, Newton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070373882 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Southern Forest Products Sawmill, Newton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070374616 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Deweyville Isd School Facilities, Orange
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070627368 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Railway Adjacent Hwy 363, Kirbyville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070704319 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
0214-03-034 Sh 63 At Brack Bridge, Burkeville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071310757 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Newton Isd Hs & Ms Additions & Renovations, Newton
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071662313 (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 Newton 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 Newton 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.

Scan an address in Newton County View on the heat map All Texas counties