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Benton County, Washington: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Benton County is 147.6 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 496 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (144), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (128), Gas station (mapped facility) (70). 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: 46.2802, -119.5706.

How this county ranks in Washington

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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 Benton County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Esophagus	Deaths	4.9	3.7	1.32x	3.7 to 6.3	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	13.1	11.3	1.16x	11.1 to 15.3	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	16	13.9	1.15x	13.8 to 18.4	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	3.9	3.4	1.15x	2.9 to 5.3	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	6.4	5.7	1.12x	5 to 8	2020-2024
Bladder	Deaths	4.6	4.1	1.12x	3.4 to 6	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	Deaths	2.1	2	1.05x	1.4 to 3.1	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	147.6	143.2	1.03x	140.8 to 154.8	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	4.7	4.6	1.02x	3.5 to 6.1	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	18.8	18.7	1.01x	16.4 to 21.5	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	4.8	4.8	1x	3.6 to 6.2	2020-2024
Stomach	Deaths	2.7	2.7	1x	1.8 to 3.9	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	6.3	6.6	0.95x	4.9 to 8	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	5.8	6.2	0.94x	4.5 to 7.4	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	28.1	30.2	0.93x	25.2 to 31.3	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	16.5	17.9	0.92x	14.2 to 19.1	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	4	4.4	0.91x	3 to 5.4	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	5.9	6.6	0.89x	4.6 to 7.5	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	11.1	13	0.85x	9.1 to 13.3	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	381.2	453.4	0.84x	370 to 392.7	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	14.9	18.5	0.81x	12.7 to 17.4	2019-2023
Childhood cancer (under 15)	New cases	13	16.4	0.79x	8.7 to 18.5	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	40.9	51.8	0.79x	37.3 to 44.6	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	17.5	23.8	0.74x	15.2 to 20.1	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	10.4	14.5	0.72x	8.6 to 12.4	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	4.9	8.7	0.56x	3.7 to 6.4	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 Benton County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	7,204.1	9,842.6	-27%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	77.8	75.3	+3%	years
Child mortality	40.3	59.8	-33%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	5.1	6.2	-18%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	67.6	96.9	-30%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	20.3	28.6	-29%	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.

Formaldehyde16.63 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.94 per million
Acetaldehyde2.15 per million
Naphthalene2.1 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 365 days: 293 good, 2 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 36, peak 113.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing144
NPDES wastewater discharge permit128
Gas station (mapped facility)70
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)34
Small hazardous waste generator23
Scrapyard (mapped facility)12
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)12
Large hazardous waste generator10
TRI reporting facility10
Brownfield property9
Air permit holder (minor source)6
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)4
Large greenhouse gas emitter4
Heliport4
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)4
Major air pollution source3
EPA air quality monitor3
Hydroelectric plant3
Superfund (NPL) site3
Public airport2
Hazardous waste transporter2
Landfill (mapped facility)2
Commercial airport1
Nuclear power plant1
Solar power plant1
Wind 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.

Conagra Foods Lamb Weston Richland, Richland
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $2,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000491682 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 10
Hanford 200-Area (USDOE), Benton County
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 69.1. NPL Site.
EPA site ID WA1890090078 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Hanford 300-Area (USDOE), Benton County
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 65.2. NPL Site.
EPA site ID WA2890090077 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Hanford 100-Area (USDOE), Benton County
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 46.4. NPL Site.
EPA site ID WA3890090076 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Us Doe Hanford Site, Richland
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Naphthalene, Lead, Toluene, Xylene (mixed isomers) and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 1,337,655 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 99352SDPRTPOBOX (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.2
Tessenderlo Kerley Inc, Kennewick
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056959144 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.7
Lamb Weston Inc Richland Facility, Richland
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Hydrogen sulfide, Ammonia. 14,453,849 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 99352LMBWS2013S (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.5
Agrium Us Inc Bowles Road, Kennewick
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007030186 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.1
Alleima Special Metals Llc, Kennewick
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Hydrogen fluoride, Nitric acid. 690,356 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 99337SNDVKCHEMI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.5
Nutrien Us Llc, Kennewick
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Nitric acid. 678,174 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 99336CHVRNBOWLE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.5
Prosser City Wwtp, Prosser
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $3,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110042063138 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Lamb Weston Inc. - Paterson Plant, Paterson
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Ammonia. 79,547 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 99345WTTSB18717 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.8
Tree Top Inc - Prosser Sprayfield, Prosser
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution). 62,028 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 9935WTRTPN64NBU (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Us Doe Hanford Site, Richland
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070556110 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Conagra Foods Lamb Weston Richland, Richland
Large greenhouse gas emitter. Penalties $2,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000491682 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Us Doe Hanford Ust Site, Richland
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070525933 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Tessenderlo Kerley Inc., Kennewick
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Carbon disulfide, Dimethylamine, Ammonia, Potassium N-methyldithiocarbamate and 2 more. 28,390 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 99337KRLYGROUTE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.4
Sandvik Special Metals, Kennewick
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000491646 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Richland City Wastewater Lab, Richland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000530373 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Kennewick Wwtp, Kennewick
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040118388 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Us Doe Hanford Ust Site, Richland
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070525933 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Us Doe Hanford Ust Site, Richland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070525933 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
American Rock Products Hanford, Richland
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Lead And Lead Compounds. 7,504 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 9935WMRCNR29RBE (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6
Framatome Np, Richland
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Nitric acid, Hydrogen fluoride, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution). 5,050 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 99352DVNCD2101H (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.8
Conagra Foods Lamb Weston Richland, Richland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000491682 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5

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 Benton County

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