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Vernon County, Wisconsin: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Vernon County is 164.6 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Leukemia deaths at 2 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 78 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (49), Rail grade crossing (10), Toxic chemical release facility (TRI) (4). 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: 43.5791, -90.7715.

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 Vernon County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Leukemia	Deaths	11.6	5.7	2.04xSignificant	7.5 to 17.5	2020-2024
Bladder	Deaths	6.8	4.1	1.66x	3.9 to 11.3	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	22.9	14.5	1.58xSignificant	16.6 to 31.1	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	24.7	18.7	1.32x	18.7 to 32.3	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	30.6	23.8	1.29x	23.1 to 39.9	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	22.9	17.9	1.28x	16.8 to 30.9	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	22.5	18.5	1.22x	16.5 to 30.2	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	New cases	10.2	8.7	1.17x	6.4 to 15.7	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	164.6	143.2	1.15xSignificant	147.6 to 183.1	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	58.8	51.8	1.14x	49.1 to 70.2	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	497.2	453.4	1.1xSignificant	466.7 to 529.3	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	11.1	11.3	0.98x	7.1 to 16.8	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	12.2	13.9	0.88x	8 to 18.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	24.3	30.2	0.8x	18.5 to 31.7	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	9.3	13	0.72x	5.2 to 15.4	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 Vernon County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	7,508.4	9,842.6	-24%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	77.8	75.3	+3%	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	86.8	96.9	-11%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	15.1	28.6	-47%	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 Tetrachloride2.95 per million
Acetaldehyde1.38 per million
Benzene0.91 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit49
Rail grade crossing10
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)4
Air permit holder (minor source)3
TRI reporting facility3
Solar power plant2
Public airport1
Brownfield property1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Hazardous waste transporter1
Heliport1
Oil-fired 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.

Dairyland Power Cooperative - Genoa Site, Genoa
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Hydrogen fluoride, Barium compounds (except for barium sulfate (CAS No. 7727-43-7)) and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 29,594 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 54632DRYLNS4651 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.9
Nelson Global Inc.- Viroqua, Viroqua
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Chromium and Chromium Compounds(except for chromite ore mined in the Transvaal Region), Nickel And Nickel Compounds, Copper and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 224 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 54665NLSNDRUSKI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.3
Nelson Global Products Inc, Viroqua
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000594250 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Lehmann Farms Llc, Harmony, Town Of
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110069996759 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Ati Ladish Llc, Coon Valley
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nickel, Cobalt, Chromium. Reports carcinogens.
TRI facility ID 5462WTLDSH1JACK (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.5
Westby Coop Creamery, Westby
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010883972 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Coon Valley Wastewater Treatment Facility, Coon Valley
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010889743 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Stoddard Wwtp, Stoddard
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039959220 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
La Farge, La Farge
Oil-fired power plant.
Record ID 4124 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4
Foremost Farms Usa, Hillsboro
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000422604 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Ati Ladish Llc, Coon Valley, Village Of
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070689400 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
La Farge Wastewater Treatment Plant, La Farge
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010888067 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Chaseburg Wastewater Treatment Fac, Chaseburg
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010893462 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Viroqua Wastewater Treatment Facility, Viroqua
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010889020 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Westby Wastewater Treatment Facility, Westby
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010888959 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
City Of Viroqua, Viroqua
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038742082 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Dairyland Power Coop Genoa Station, Genoa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000422597 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Ontario Wastewater Treatment Facility, Ontario
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010889609 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Wi Dot Bridge B-62-187, Ontario
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110072088776 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Land O'Lakes Inc. - Hillsboro, Hillsboro
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Nitric acid.
TRI facility ID 54634MPMRN186AM (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Hillsboro Wastewater Treatment Facility, Hillsboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039722020 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Viola Wastewater Treatment Fac, Viola
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110039964143 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.5
Genoa Wastewater Treatment Facility, Genoa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010888593 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Readstown Wastewater Treatment Facility, Readstown
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010889495 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Viroqua Muni, Viroqua
Public airport. O.
Record ID Y51 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2

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 Vernon 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 Vernon 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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