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Jefferson County, Wisconsin: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Jefferson County is 143.3 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. The strongest disease signals are Kidney & renal pelvis deaths at 1.7 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 398 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (125), Rail grade crossing (113), Gas station (mapped facility) (39). 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: 43.0214, -88.7769.

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 Jefferson County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Childhood cancer (under 15)	New cases	33.3	16.4	2.03xSignificant	21.1 to 50.1	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	5.8	3.4	1.71xSignificant	3.9 to 8.3	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	6.6	4.8	1.38x	4.6 to 9.2	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	23.2	17.9	1.3xSignificant	19.2 to 27.9	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	23.4	18.5	1.26xSignificant	19.4 to 27.9	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	7.2	5.7	1.26x	5.1 to 10	2020-2024
Pancreas	Deaths	14.2	11.3	1.26x	11.3 to 17.8	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	New cases	7.7	6.2	1.24x	5.3 to 10.7	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	29.3	23.8	1.23xSignificant	24.7 to 34.6	2019-2023
Bladder	Deaths	4.8	4.1	1.17x	3.2 to 7.1	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	21.2	18.7	1.13x	17.5 to 25.4	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	16.1	14.5	1.11x	12.8 to 20.2	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	15.2	13.9	1.09x	12.1 to 18.9	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	14	13	1.08x	10.7 to 18.1	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	476.8	453.4	1.05xSignificant	458.3 to 495.8	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	6.9	6.6	1.05x	4.9 to 9.4	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	9	8.7	1.03x	6.7 to 12	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	143.3	143.2	1x	133.5 to 153.7	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	51.7	51.8	1x	46.1 to 58	2019-2023
Esophagus	New cases	4.5	4.6	0.98x	3.1 to 6.6	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	4.2	4.4	0.95x	2.7 to 6.4	2020-2024
Esophagus	Deaths	3.4	3.7	0.92x	2.1 to 5.3	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	25.9	30.2	0.86x	22 to 30.4	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	3.7	6.6	0.56x	2.2 to 5.8	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 Jefferson County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	7,008.3	9,842.6	-29%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	78	75.3	+4%	years
Child mortality	47	59.8	-21%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	4.7	6.2	-24%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	90.4	96.9	-7%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	19.5	28.6	-32%	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.

Formaldehyde14.39 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.97 per million
Acetaldehyde1.4 per million
Naphthalene1.25 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 198 days: 168 good, 1 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 40, peak 105.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit125
Rail grade crossing113
Gas station (mapped facility)39
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)20
TRI reporting facility17
Air permit holder (minor source)13
Public airport11
Small hazardous waste generator11
Major air pollution source10
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)8
Brownfield property6
Large hazardous waste generator6
Hazardous waste transporter4
Large greenhouse gas emitter3
Landfill (mapped facility)3
Gas power plant2
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)2
EPA air quality monitor1
Commercial airport1
Heliport1
Biomass power plant1
Solar 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.

Ball Container Llc, Fort Atkinson
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Certain glycol ethers, n-Butyl alcohol, Formaldehyde, Hydrogen fluoride and 2 more. Reports carcinogens. 392,386 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 53538MTLCN105EA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.8
Fiberdome Products Llc Plant 2, Lake Mills
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene. Reports carcinogens. 155,901 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 53551TFFYC865ES (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.5
Mastermold Llc, Johnson Creek
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Styrene, n-Butyl alcohol. Reports carcinogens. 97,715 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 53038MSTRM111GR (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.3
Whitewater Cogeneration Facility, Whitewater
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043795970 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.2
Aztalan Bio, Johnson Creek
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Acetaldehyde, Formic acid, n-Hexane, Acrolein and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 32,478 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 5303WZTLNBW5289 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8
Fisher-Barton Specialty Products, Watertown
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Sodium nitrite, Nickel, Chromium, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution) and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 31,677 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 53094FSHRB14STW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8
Aztalan Bio, Johnson Creek
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071340344 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.3
Valero Renewable Fuels, Jefferson
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Acetaldehyde, n-Hexane, Acrolein, Methanol and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 2,570 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 53549LDSHMEASTJ (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.1
Whitewater Generating Station, Whitewater
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia. 92,801 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 53190LSPWH111CO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.8
Wisconsin Investcast, Watertown
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chromium, Nickel, Cobalt. Reports carcinogens. 758 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 53094WSCNS661S1 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.7
Mastermold Llc, Johnson Creek
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000416327 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.5
Ball Container Llc, Fort Atkinson
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000419654 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.2
Fisher Barton Blades, Watertown
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Sodium nitrite, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Manganese. 15,107 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 5309WFSHRB3AIRP (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.2
Fiberdome Products, Llc, Lake Mills
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000419823 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6
Fisher-Barton Specialty Products Inc, Watertown
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043965368 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Fort Atkinson Wastewater Treat, Fort Atkinson
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002050119 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Whitewater City Wwtf, Whitewater
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002120829 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Whitewater Cogeneration Facility, Whitewater
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043795970 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Be Gone Green, Llc, Waterloo
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071675138 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.8
Lake Mills Wastewater Treatment Facility, Lake Mills
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039958631 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
On-Cor Frozen Foods - Llc Redi-Serve Foods Div, Fort Atkinson
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000561106 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.5
Osi Industries Llc, Fort Atkinson
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia. 1,510 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 53538RDSRV12IND (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.4
Diversey Inc., Watertown
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Certain glycol ethers, Lead, Acetaldehyde, Nickel and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 15 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 53094SCHMC316HA (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.4
Fisher Barton Blades, Watertown
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110060258894 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.4
Watertown Wastewater Treatment, Watertown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039964376 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3

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 Jefferson 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 Jefferson 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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