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Washburn County, Wisconsin: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Washburn County is 188.2 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.3 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 127 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Rail grade crossing (49), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (44), Gas station (mapped facility) (10). 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: 45.8935, -91.787.

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 Washburn County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	10.7	6.6	1.62x	5.7 to 19.4	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	11.9	8.7	1.37x	6.7 to 20.9	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	24.5	18.5	1.32x	15.6 to 37.3	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	39.8	30.2	1.32xSignificant	30.7 to 52	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	188.2	143.2	1.31xSignificant	165.5 to 213.9	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	20.4	17.9	1.14x	12.8 to 31.6	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	New cases	57.6	51.8	1.11x	45.7 to 72.6	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	11.9	11.3	1.05x	7.1 to 20.2	2020-2024
All cancer	New cases	466.9	453.4	1.03x	428.3 to 508.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	13.4	13.9	0.96x	8.3 to 22	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	17.1	18.7	0.91x	10.9 to 26.7	2019-2023
Leukemia	New cases	13	14.5	0.9x	7.8 to 21.7	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	20.4	23.8	0.86x	13.6 to 30.5	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 Washburn County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	9,092.3	9,842.6	-8%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	75.9	75.3	+1%	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	100	96.9	+3%	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.

Formaldehyde11.52 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.96 per million
Acetaldehyde1.12 per million
Benzene0.85 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

Rail grade crossing49
NPDES wastewater discharge permit44
Gas station (mapped facility)10
Public airport6
Small hazardous waste generator4
Brownfield property2
Hazardous waste transporter2
Heliport2
Landfill (mapped facility)2
Commercial airport1
Large hazardous waste generator1
Hydroelectric plant1
Scrapyard (mapped facility)1
TRI reporting facility1
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.

Wisconsin Structural Steel Co, Barronett
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000605952 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
Stresau Laboratory Inc, Spooner
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009521703 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Dollar General - Birchwood, Llc. Site, Birchwood
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071223397 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Birchwood Village Of, Birchwood
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070007325 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Minong Village Of, Minong
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070014918 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Henry Bros Jr. Property, Barronett
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015331229 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Spooner Roundhouse, Spooner
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071971000 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Wi Dot Nw Region - Spooner Sign Shop, Spooner
Large hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008237719 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Wi Dnr Gov Tommy Thompson Fish Hatchery, Spooner
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010884882 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.8
Nest Of Eagles, Spooner
Public airport. O.
Record ID 1H9 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Shell Lake Muni, Shell Lake
Commercial airport. O.
Record ID SSQ (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Landfill
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID relation/11152098 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Minong Transfer Station
Landfill (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1021825894 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Minong Sewage Ponds
Wastewater plant (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/1021825913 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Wisconsin Structural Steel Co, Barronett
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000605952 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Cortec Spray Technologies, Spooner
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000883777 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Beaver Holdings Inc Dba Shell Lake Woodcrafters, Shell Lake
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070135968 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Spooner Area School District Site, Spooner
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110005461106 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Rivers Edge Campground Laundry, Birchwood
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110016889072 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Legacy Farms Llc, Barronett, Town Of
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110041243614 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Shell Lake City Of, Shell Lake
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070016281 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Spooner City Of, Spooner
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070025388 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Beaver Brook Sanitary District 1, Beaver Brook
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070937546 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Kessler'S Auto Salvage, Springbrook
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070938351 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Bubbas Auto Salvage, Brooklyn
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070940183 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5

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 Washburn 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 Washburn 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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