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Okanogan County, Washington: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Okanogan County is 172.2 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Brain & nervous system deaths at 1.9 times the U.S. rate and Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.4 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 378 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (166), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (91), Gas station (mapped facility) (34). 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: 48.4718, -119.7396.

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 Okanogan County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Esophagus	New cases	8.8	4.6	1.91xSignificant	5.8 to 13	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	8.2	4.4	1.86xSignificant	5 to 12.7	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	New cases	8.6	6.2	1.39x	5.2 to 13.5	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	41.8	30.2	1.38xSignificant	35.2 to 49.5	2020-2024
Leukemia	Deaths	7.8	5.7	1.37x	5.1 to 11.7	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6.3	4.8	1.31x	3.7 to 10.2	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	23.9	18.5	1.29x	18.3 to 30.8	2019-2023
Esophagus	Deaths	4.7	3.7	1.27x	2.7 to 7.9	2020-2024
Bladder	Deaths	5.2	4.1	1.27x	3.1 to 8.6	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	8.1	6.6	1.23x	5.2 to 12.1	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	172.2	143.2	1.2xSignificant	158 to 187.5	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	61.5	51.8	1.19xSignificant	53.3 to 70.8	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	16.7	14.5	1.15x	12.1 to 22.6	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	20.5	18.7	1.1x	16 to 26.1	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	24.7	23.8	1.04x	18.9 to 31.9	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	14.3	13.9	1.03x	10.5 to 19.3	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	461.8	453.4	1.02x	437.1 to 487.7	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	17.5	17.9	0.98x	13.1 to 23.1	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	11	11.3	0.97x	7.7 to 15.5	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	7.8	8.7	0.9x	5.2 to 11.7	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	7.8	13	0.6x	4.6 to 12.3	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 Okanogan County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	9,893.2	9,842.6	+1%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	76.1	75.3	+1%	years
Child mortality	66	59.8	+10%	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	123.6	96.9	+28%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	37.4	28.6	+31%	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.

Formaldehyde11.03 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.81 per million
Acetaldehyde1.31 per million
Pahpom0.58 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 361 days: 204 good, 4 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 41, peak 160.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing166
NPDES wastewater discharge permit91
Gas station (mapped facility)34
Brownfield property30
Air permit holder (minor source)20
Public airport11
EPA air quality monitor6
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)5
Small hazardous waste generator3
Major air pollution source2
Airfield2
Heliport2
Commercial airport1
Landfill (mapped facility)1
Hydroelectric plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)1
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)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.

Omak-Colville Tribe
EPA air quality monitor.
Record ID 530470013 (U.S. EPA AirData)
Severity 5.2
Pacific Aquaculture Inc - Site 3, Nespelem
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009764200 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Faith Frontier Ministries, Okanogan
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009764219 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Blue Bird Tonasket Plant, Tonasket
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010845112 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Pateros Wastewater Treatment Plant, Pateros
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010897930 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Gold Digger Apples Heavy Pack, Oroville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010907661 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Gold Digger Apples Plant 3, Oroville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010908278 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Chelan Fruit Cooperative Okanogan, Okanogan
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012799999 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Chelan Fruit Cooperative Pateros No, Pateros
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110012800004 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Chelan Fruit Cooperative Pateros So, Pateros
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013670893 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Gold Digger Apples Cordell Plant, Oroville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015417878 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Smith & Nelson Inc, Tonasket
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015529971 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Twisp Wwtp, Twisp
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015531691 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Omak Wastewater Treatment Plant, Omak
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015531762 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Brewster Heights Packing Apple Hous, Brewster
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015545258 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Wa Dfw Similkameen Hatchery, Oroville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022932193 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Buckhorn Mountain Mine, Oroville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110032827145 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Brewster Stp, Brewster
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039921733 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Okanogan Wwtp, Okanogan
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040115942 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Brewster Heights Packing Pateros, Pateros
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040121515 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Oroville Wastewater Treatment Plant, Oroville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040122300 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Tonasket Potw, Tonasket
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040123443 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Pacific Calcium, Riverside
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110040625641 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Boesel Construction Inc Indian Dan Canyon, Brewster
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041616276 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Omak Sewer System Improvements, Omak
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110054904127 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5

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 Okanogan 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 Okanogan 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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