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Review government records associated with Spencer, Iowa.
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Check your water bill for your utility name and confirm the reporting year. See EPA’s guide to finding your annual water quality report.
Public water-system records for Spencer, IA from EPA SDWIS.
Spencer Municipal Water Utility
No active drinking-water issues detected in EPA SDWIS.
Reviewed: active/open records as of Q1 2026
City listed in EPA records · Serves 11,325 people
Data from EPA SDWIS
Reviewed: source records as of Q1 2026
EPA UCMR5 — No PFAS detection records shown for these water systems
Open data source: EPA UCMR5DoD PFAS — No investigation records shown for this report
Open data source: DoD PFASEPA ATTAINS records identify assessed water bodies that do not meet water-quality standards for designated uses.
City of Spencer-Little Sioux River
Reported: Nov 2026
Health-relevant causes: Pathogens
Affected uses: Recreation
Data from EPA ATTAINS
NPDES permits regulate pollutant discharges into U.S. waterways. Facilities must report compliance quarterly.
Violation records
Last inspected: Dec 2025
Data from EPA ECHO
To investigate water contamination, check the sampling locations, dates and results below. For tap water records, see Drinking water quality above.
Reviewed: source records as of 2026
Review historical EPA air pollution records, including monitoring and facility emissions where available. For current conditions, check local air quality on AirNow.
Clay County
Assessment year: 2020
According to EPA, a cancer risk of 20-in-1-million means that for every 1 million people continuously exposed to these air toxics over a 70-year lifetime, an estimated 20 may develop cancer from that exposure. This is in addition to cancer risk from all other causes.
Top modeled source groups
Data from EPA AirToxScreen
No EPA nonattainment designation records shown for this report.
EPA annual monitor summaries describe past measurements. For current air quality, see AirNow.
Emmetsburg, Iowa Lakes Community Coll.
Annual mean: 0.042 Parts per million
EPA primary exceedance count: 2 (Ozone 8-hour 2015)
Observation year: 2025
Annual mean: 7.0 Micrograms/cubic meter (LC)
Observation year: 2025
Data from EPA AQS
Reviewed: source records as of Q4 2025
Reviewed: source query run Nov 2026
Reviewed: source query run Nov 2026
Facilities with hazardous-waste handler records under RCRA in the reviewed 5-mile city-center search area. Active handler status is separate from air, water, or other ECHO compliance violations, which are shown in their own sections.
Active RCRA handler records in the reviewed city search area
No release reports shown in this group.
Reviewed: active/open records as of 2018
Data from EPA UST Finder
Sites regulated by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, including mines, sand and gravel operations, and portable crushers. Status and type are from the MSHA Mine Data Retrieval System. Records with active/intermittent status dates older than 5 years are shown as older records rather than current active sites.
No records shown in this group.
Reviewed: status dates within last 5 years
Data from MSHA
Clay County, IA
EPA Radon Zone Map (June 2024 release)
Clay County is EPA Radon Zone 1 (highest potential). EPA defines Zone 1 counties as having predicted average indoor screening levels above 4 pCi/L.
Radon levels can vary from home to home, so EPA recommends testing the property to know its indoor level.
FEMA flood zones describe mapped flood hazards. Look up a specific address with FEMA.
Minimal flood hazard — outside the 1% and 0.2% annual chance floodplains.
Results use an earlier stored RMP inventory. Current EPA ECHO location coverage is unverified.
EPA ECHO lists facilities linked to the Risk Management Program. Results include facilities with locations that can be matched. Records may be historical. Current operations, chemical inventories, and recent accident history are unverified.
PHMSA tracks incidents involving natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. Incidents include leaks, ruptures, and explosions.
No records dated within the last 5 years surfaced for this city report.
Reviewed: last 5 years
Data from PHMSA
Health outcomes from County Health Rankings. Values shown alongside state and national averages.
Clay County, IowaPop. 16,475
County Health Rankings edition: 2024
Premature Death
Poor or Fair Health
Poor Physical Health Days
Poor Mental Health Days
Adult Smoking
Adult Obesity
Air Pollution - Particulate Matter
Drinking water violation indicator
Diabetes Prevalence
Life Expectancy
| Indicator | County | State | National |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premature Death | 7,419 | 6,935 | 7,972 |
| Poor or Fair Health | 13.0% | 12.5% | 14.2% |
| Poor Physical Health Days | 3.2 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
| Poor Mental Health Days | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.8 |
| Adult Smoking | 17.5% | 15.5% | 15.0% |
| Adult Obesity | 37.4% | 36.9% | 34.0% |
| Air Pollution - Particulate Matter | 6.5 | 7.4 | 7.3 |
| Drinking water violation indicator | No | N/A | N/A |
| Diabetes Prevalence | 8.4% | 8.5% | 9.6% |
| Life Expectancy | 78.1 | 78.1 | 77.6 |
This report does not have PFAS sample results for the candidate water systems in Spencer.
Check with the utility that serves your address for its testing results.
The EPA drinking water records available here list no violations for Spencer Municipal Water Utility.
Check your water bill to identify the utility serving your address. Ask that utility about current drinking water advisories.
Nearby EPA monitoring stations provide annual air quality measurements for Spencer.
The monitoring station at Emmetsburg, Iowa Lakes Community Coll. recorded an annual average of 0.042 Parts per million for ozone in 2025.
The monitoring station at Emmetsburg, Iowa Lakes Community Coll. recorded an annual average of 7 Micrograms/cubic meter (LC) for fine particles (PM2.5) in 2025.
The radon data for Spencer covers Clay County. EPA places this area in Zone 1, with a predicted average indoor radon screening level above 4 picocuries per liter.
No Superfund or brownfield sites were returned for this city report.
The county data for Spencer reports a life expectancy of 78.1 years in Clay County, Iowa.
The figure is from the 2024 edition of County Health Rankings, a University of Wisconsin program that publishes county health statistics.
The county data for Spencer reports 7,419 years of life lost to deaths before age 75 per 100,000 residents in Clay County, Iowa. This measure adds up the years lost to early deaths and adjusts for differences in population age.
The figure is from the 2024 edition of County Health Rankings, a University of Wisconsin program that publishes county health statistics.
The county data for Spencer lists fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) at 6.5 micrograms per cubic meter in Clay County, Iowa.
The figure is from the 2024 edition of County Health Rankings, a University of Wisconsin program that publishes county health statistics.
Federal pipeline records list an incident involving Nustar Pipeline Operating Partnership L.P. near Spencer on May 14, 2013. The reported release was hvl or other flammable or toxic fluid which is a gas at ambient conditions.