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Iron County, Wisconsin: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Iron County is 145.4 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.7 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 41 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (15), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (12), Gas station (mapped facility) (7). 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: 46.2861, -90.2402.

How this county ranks in Wisconsin

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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 Iron County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	50	30.2	1.66xSignificant	34.3 to 74.6	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	84.6	51.8	1.63xSignificant	63.2 to 114.8	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	494.1	453.4	1.09x	431.8 to 565.1	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	145.4	143.2	1.02x	117.4 to 181.4	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	5,870.4	9,842.6	-40%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	79	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	101.8	96.9	+5%	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: 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.

Formaldehyde9.38 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.94 per million
Acetaldehyde0.91 per million
Benzene0.67 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing15
NPDES wastewater discharge permit12
Gas station (mapped facility)7
Public airport3
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)1
Brownfield property1
Hazardous waste transporter1
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.

Whitecap Mountains Sanitary District, Upson
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010886176 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Hurley Sewage Collection System, Hurley
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070938869 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
City Of Montreal, Montreal
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010888619 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Midwest Forest Products, Mercer
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071969058 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Knight Town Of, Ironbelt
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010887157 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2
Saxon Sanitary District
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/965763390 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Saxon Sanitary District #1, Saxon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010886167 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Mercer Sanitary District, Mercer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010887415 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Snowbelt Hardwoods, Hurley
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110054237009 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Pence Town Sewage Collection System, Pence
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070937931 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Action Floor Systems Llc - Mercer, Mercer
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071093447 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Snow Country Contracting, Inc. Site, Saxon
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071143987 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Mellen-Ush 2,Sth169, Ashland County,Project Id:9925-00-00,Tribal Id:2022-13, Mellen
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071881520 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
M2, Ashland
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072230629 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
North American Inc, Hurley
Hazardous waste transporter.
EPA FRS registry ID 110005416148 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1
Private, Saxon
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 697118R (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1
Betzold Rd, Saxon
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 697119X (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1
Park Rd, Saxon
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 697120S (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1
Gravel Pit Rd, Saxon
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 697121Y (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1
N River Rd, Saxon
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 697122F (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1
Valley Rd, Saxon
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 697123M (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1
N Lakehead Rd, Saxon
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 697124U (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1
Cth B, Saxon
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 697125B (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1
Sth 122, Saxon
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 697127P (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1
Wyland Rd, Saxon
Rail grade crossing.
Record ID 697128W (Federal Railroad Administration)
Severity 1

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

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