UT / county FIPS 49021 / county research

Iron County, Utah: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Iron County is 129 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Esophagus deaths at 1.9 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 390 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (246), Gas station (mapped facility) (37), Rail grade crossing (34). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 10 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: 37.8168, -113.3138.

How this county ranks in Utah

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 Iron 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	55.5	23.8	2.33xSignificant	46.9 to 65.2	2019-2023
Esophagus	Deaths	6.9	3.7	1.86xSignificant	4.1 to 10.8	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	8.5	5.7	1.49x	5.3 to 12.7	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	14.6	11.3	1.29x	10.4 to 19.9	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	5.3	4.6	1.15x	2.9 to 8.8	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	7.1	6.2	1.15x	4.1 to 11.4	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	14.7	13	1.13x	10.4 to 20.2	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	15.2	13.9	1.09x	10.9 to 20.7	2019-2023
Stomach	New cases	7.2	6.6	1.09x	4.3 to 11.2	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	19.7	18.7	1.05x	14.7 to 25.8	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	15.1	14.5	1.04x	10.8 to 20.4	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	18.1	17.9	1.01x	13.4 to 23.8	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	8.3	8.7	0.95x	5.3 to 12.5	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	424.1	453.4	0.94x	399.9 to 449.4	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	129	143.2	0.9x	115.8 to 143.4	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	14.1	18.5	0.76x	10 to 19.3	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	26	51.8	0.5x	20.4 to 32.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	13.3	30.2	0.44x	9.4 to 18.2	2020-2024

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 Iron County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	6,863.8	9,842.6	-30%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	78.3	75.3	+4%	years
Child mortality	51.9	59.8	-13%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	5.6	6.2	-9%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	70.6	96.9	-27%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	16.7	28.6	-42%	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 10 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde8.89 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.41 per million
Acetaldehyde0.43 per million
Benzene0.32 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 364 days: 272 good, 1 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 44, peak 105.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit246
Gas station (mapped facility)37
Rail grade crossing34
Solar power plant17
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)10
Air permit holder (minor source)8
Small hazardous waste generator6
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)6
Public airport5
Large hazardous waste generator5
TRI reporting facility5
Heliport3
Hazardous waste transporter2
Scrapyard (mapped facility)2
Major air pollution source1
EPA air quality monitor1
Commercial airport1
Brownfield property1

Highest-severity records

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

American Pacific Corp Utah Ops, Cedar City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000566593 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.3
American Pacific Corp Utah Ops, Cedar City
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000566593 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
American Pacific Corp Utah Operations, Cedar City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: 2,2-Dichloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane (HCFC-123), Nitric acid, Ammonia, Barium And Barium Compounds and 4 more. 5,510 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 84720MRCNZ10622 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.9
Staker & Parson- Cedar City Facility, Cedar City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead, Polycyclic aromatic compounds, Benzo[g,h,i]perylene, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution). Reports carcinogens. 17 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 84720CDRCT145NB (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.5
Bmca Cedar City Llc, Cedar City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064118976 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.1
Cedar City Rgnl, Cedar City
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID CDC (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 5
Bmca Cedar City Llc (Bmca), Cedar City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Antimony, Antimony compounds, Diisocyanates. 329 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 84721SLLVN5080W (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.9
Sunroc Corp - Cedar City, Cedar City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Polycyclic aromatic compounds, Lead, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution). Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 8472WCDRCT197NB (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.6
American Pacific Corp Utah Ops, Cedar City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000566593 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Western Quality Foods, Cedar City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000470142 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Enoch, Enoch
EPA air quality monitor.
Record ID 490210005 (U.S. EPA AirData)
Severity 4
Western Quality Foods Llc, Cedar City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Nitric acid. 20 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 84720WSTRN997NO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4
Staker Parson Companies Dba Western Rock Products Cedar City Facility, Cedar City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110025331996 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Cedar City, Cedar City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070566213 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Metalcraft Technologies Inc., Cedar City
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110028004228 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Genpak Llc - Cedar City, Cedar City
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000717500 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
American Packaging Corporation, Cedar City
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071432316 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Cedar City Abandoned Up Railroad Row, Cedar City
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071978164 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Cedar City Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility, Cedar City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000868062 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Genpak, Llc - Cedar City, Ut, Cedar City
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110061858146 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Parowan City, Parowan
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070826080 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Unev Pipeline - Cedar City Terminal, Cedar City
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071888914 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Mueller Copper Tube West Co., Cedar City
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper.
TRI facility ID 84720CRRCP888N5 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Braffits Creek Pit, Cedar City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $183.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071886869 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
United Parcel Service - Cedar City, Cedar City
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $5,300,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110005209158 (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 Iron County

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