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Review government records associated with Houghton, Michigan.
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Preparing Houghton environmental records...
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 Houghton, MI from EPA SDWIS.
Houghton
No active drinking-water issues detected in EPA SDWIS.
Reviewed: active/open records as of Q1 2026
City listed in EPA records · Serves 8,386 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.
Portage Lake-Portage River
Reported: Nov 2026
Health-relevant causes: Dioxins, Metals (other Than Mercury), Pathogens, Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (pfas), Pesticides, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (pcbs)
Affected uses: Ecological, Fishconsumption, Recreation
Data from EPA ATTAINS
NPDES permits regulate pollutant discharges into U.S. waterways. Facilities must report compliance quarterly.
No NPDES-permitted facility records with current violation flags surfaced for this city report.
Reviewed: active/open records as of Q4 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.
Houghton County
Assessment year: 2020
According to EPA, a cancer risk of 10-in-1-million means that for every 1 million people continuously exposed to these air toxics over a 70-year lifetime, an estimated 10 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.
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
Formerly Used Defense Sites are properties previously owned by, leased to, or otherwise possessed by the United States and under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Defense. The FUDS program addresses environmental restoration at these properties.
Open data source: USACE FUDSSites 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.
More MSHA records matched the search than this preview shows.
No records shown in this group.
Reviewed: status dates within last 5 years
Data from MSHA
Houghton County, MI
EPA Radon Zone Map (June 2024 release)
Houghton County is EPA Radon Zone 2 (moderate potential). EPA defines Zone 2 counties as having predicted average indoor screening levels between 2 pCi/L and 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.
No FEMA flood-zone records shown for this report.
Results use an earlier stored RMP inventory. Current EPA ECHO location coverage is unverified.
No EPA ECHO RMP facility records with a usable location matched this city report.
PHMSA tracks incidents involving natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. Incidents include leaks, ruptures, and explosions.
Recent Incidents (last 5 years)
SEMCO ENERGY GAS COMPANY
Incident date: Mar 13, 2022
Property damage: $166,100
Data from PHMSA
Health outcomes from County Health Rankings. Values shown alongside state and national averages.
Houghton County, MichiganPop. 37,035
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 | 6,528 | 8,468 | 7,972 |
| Poor or Fair Health | 15.4% | 15.2% | 14.2% |
| Poor Physical Health Days | 3.8 | 3.6 | 3.3 |
| Poor Mental Health Days | 5.5 | 5.3 | 4.8 |
| Adult Smoking | 18.6% | 17.9% | 15.0% |
| Adult Obesity | 35.4% | 34.6% | 34.0% |
| Air Pollution - Particulate Matter | 5.1 | 6.8 | 7.3 |
| Drinking water violation indicator | No | N/A | N/A |
| Diabetes Prevalence | 9.2% | 9.3% | 9.6% |
| Life Expectancy | 78.0 | 76.6 | 77.6 |
This report does not have PFAS sample results for the candidate water systems in Houghton.
Check with the utility that serves your address for its testing results.
EPA drinking water records on this page list 4 violations for Houghton.
Check your water bill to identify the utility serving your address. Ask that utility about current drinking water advisories.
We don't have air monitoring measurements for Houghton yet.
The radon data for Houghton covers Houghton County. EPA places this area in Zone 2, with a predicted average indoor radon screening level of 2 to 4 picocuries per liter.
No Superfund or brownfield sites were returned for this city report.
The county data for Houghton reports a life expectancy of 78.0 years in Houghton County, Michigan.
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 Houghton reports 6,528 years of life lost to deaths before age 75 per 100,000 residents in Houghton County, Michigan. 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 Houghton lists fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) at 5.1 micrograms per cubic meter in Houghton County, Michigan.
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 Semco Energy Gas Company near Houghton on Mar 13, 2022. The reported release was natural gas.