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Refugio County, Texas: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Refugio County is 170.6 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 99 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (37), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (18), Major air pollution source (15). 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: 28.3045, -97.1661.

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 Refugio County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	28.9	17.9	1.61x	16.3 to 49.4	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	170.6	143.2	1.19x	137.2 to 211.1	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	28.6	30.2	0.95x	16.6 to 48.2	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	416.4	453.4	0.92x	357.7 to 482.8	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	41.4	51.8	0.8x	25.3 to 65.5	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 Refugio County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	11,423.2	9,842.6	+16%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	73.4	75.3	-3%	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	93.4	96.9	-4%	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.

Formaldehyde17.91 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.88 per million
Ethylene Oxide1.42 per million
Acetaldehyde1.29 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing37
NPDES wastewater discharge permit18
Major air pollution source15
Air permit holder (minor source)9
Gas station (mapped facility)6
Large hazardous waste generator4
Hazardous waste transporter3
Small hazardous waste generator2
Public airport1
Commercial airport1
Brownfield property1
Large greenhouse gas emitter1
Heliport1

Highest-severity records

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

M E Oconnor Facility, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010499200 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Town Of Refugio Wwtp, Refugio
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $5,437.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009780148 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Clement Heard Compressor Station, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007032200 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Exxon Company U.S.A., Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007179061 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Km Tejas Station 2, Tx, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007181977 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
T-C Oil Lake Pasture Compressor Yard, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007182164 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Citation Oil & Gas Corporation, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007182173 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Lambert Compressor Station & Gas Processing Plant, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007198898 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Refugio Compressor Station, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007201740 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
H & D Operating Company, Woodsboro
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007204943 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Quintana Petroleum Corporation, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010499255 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Hilcorp Energy Fannie Heard Compressor Station, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015632948 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Refugio Station, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110033181198 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Town Of Woodsboro, Woodsboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $30,925.
EPA FRS registry ID 110035179650 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Compressor Station 804, Tivoli
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039089964 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Hilcorp Energy Lake Pasture Compressor Station, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039105107 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Woodsboro Processing Plant, Refugio
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110054891006 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Refugio Blowout Crater, Refugio
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041720457 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Bayside Water Reclamation Facility, Bayside
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009748130 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
City Of Austwell Wwtp, Austwell
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $17,687.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009779720 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Koch Pipeline Co., Tivoli Station, Tivoli
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010775937 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
603 Tgp Right-Of-Way, Woodsboro
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017284188 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
383 Aransas River Remediation Site Ii, Woodsboro
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017284393 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
363 Bonnieview Station, Bonnieview
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017284909 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Km Tejas Station 2, Tx, Refugio
Large greenhouse gas emitter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007181977 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5

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 Refugio 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 Refugio 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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