New Castle, DE
A PlainEnviro-computed score from reported facility/violation counts, not an official EPA rating, health forecast, or population-adjusted rate. See methodology. This is a different measure than the EJ Screening score for this county, which ranks it by percentile against every other tracked county rather than against fixed national thresholds.
Environmental data for New Castle in Delaware · Population: 573,030
New Castle, DE is tracked across three EPA datasets covering 34 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) facilities, 54 Safe Drinking Water Act systems, and 0 Superfund National Priorities List sites. Together these generate an environmental burden score of 65/100 (High Risk), calibrated against national distributions for facility density, chemical release volume, Superfund concentration, and water-system health violations.
Industrial disclosures inside the county total 28.7M lbs of reported toxic releases under EPCRA Section 313, while 11 water systems carry an active health-based violation in the SDWIS record. EPA Air Quality System monitors logged a median AQI of 43 and a peak AQI of 119 in 2024, with 67% of observed days rated "Good" (0–50).
All figures below draw directly from federal EPA records, TRI self-reported emissions, SDWIS compliance history, NPL Hazard Ranking System scores, and AQS daily AQI summaries, and are not adjusted, weighted, or forecast. A past violation or elevated score does not itself indicate current unsafe conditions; it documents the regulatory and disclosure history publicly filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the most recent reporting cycle.
Air Quality History (2020–2024)
EPA Air Quality Index (AQI) data showing how many days per year fall into each air quality category.
| Year | Good | Moderate | Unhealthy (SG) | Max AQI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 246 (67%) | 116 | 4 | 119 |
| 2023 | 173 (47%) | 184 | 5 | 282 |
| 2022 | 208 (57%) | 157 | 0 | 93 |
| 2021 | 195 (53%) | 166 | 4 | 144 |
| 2020 | 231 (63%) | 133 | 2 | 105 |
Source: EPA Air Quality System (AQS) Annual AQI by County EPA Air Quality System (AQS) Annual AQI by County AQI categories: Good (0-50), Moderate (51-100), Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (101-150), Unhealthy (151-200), Very Unhealthy (201-300), Hazardous (301+)
For real-time air quality readings and pollutant breakdowns in Delaware, see the EPA's AirNow.gov.
Water Systems (54)
| System | Population | Violations |
|---|---|---|
| ARTESIAN WATER COMPANY | 231,114 | 4 |
| WILMINGTON WATER DEPARTMENT | 107,976 | 1 |
| VEOLIA WATER DELAWARE, INC | 100,495 | 0 |
| NEWARK WATER DEPARTMENT | 40,000 | 1 |
| ARTESIAN SOUTHERN SUSSEX REGIONAL | 18,015 | 3 |
| MIDDLETOWN WATER DEPARTMENT | 17,700 | 0 |
| CHURCH CREEK (AWC) | 9,654 | 2 |
| ARTESIAN NORTHERN KENT REGIONAL | 7,014 | 0 |
| MUNICIPAL SERVICES COMMISSION | 5,549 | 0 |
| ARTESIAN NORTHERN SUSSEX REGIONAL | 5,511 | 0 |
| ELKTON WEST | 3,500 | 1 |
| WILLOW GROVE MILL | 3,090 | 0 |
| DELAWARE CITY WATER DEPARTMENT (AWC) | 2,610 | 0 |
| MOUNTAIN HILL WATER COMPANY | 2,154 | 0 |
| DELAWARE CORRECTIONAL CENTER | 2,000 | 0 |
| BURTONWOOD | 1,503 | 0 |
| PARKSIDE | 1,467 | 0 |
| SUNLAKE TERRACE WATER SYSTEMS | 1,000 | 1 |
| PINE HILLS | 953 | 0 |
| DOVE RUN | 909 | 0 |
| VILLAGEBROOK | 847 | 0 |
| SLAUGHTER BEACH PWS | 846 | 0 |
| STOCKLEY CENTER | 749 | 0 |
| PORT DEPOSIT | 725 | 1 |
| WINTERTHUR | 687 | 0 |
| HUNTERS RUN | 683 | 0 |
| DEER MEADOWS | 534 | 0 |
| INGRAM VILLAGE (AWC) | 498 | 0 |
| HARBOR VIEW | 437 | 1 |
| PARKWOOD ESTATES | 430 | 0 |
| CARPENTERS POINT WATER CO. | 400 | 0 |
| KINGSMILL | 381 | 0 |
| FRIENDSHIP CREEK | 366 | 0 |
| ST ANDREWS APARTMENTS | 360 | 0 |
| CEDAR LANDING | 357 | 0 |
| ASCOT LANDING SUBDIVISION | 338 | 0 |
| THE VINES OF SANDHILL (AWC) | 336 | 0 |
| WHISPERING PINES MOBILE HOME PARK | 325 | 4 |
| SYCAMORE CHASE (AWC) | 291 | 0 |
| CECIL WOODS MOBILE HOME PARK WTP | 285 | 0 |
| ST ANDREWS APARTMENT NEW ADDITION | 272 | 0 |
| GLASGOW PINES II | 235 | 0 |
| MERIDIAN CROSSING APARTMENTS | 220 | 0 |
| PONDS OF ODESSA (AWC) | 216 | 1 |
| BAYVIEW IMPROVEMENT COMPANY (AWC) | 214 | 0 |
| SOUTH ASHMERE WATER ASSOCIATION INC | 150 | 0 |
| PARADISE ESTATES | 126 | 0 |
| ST ANDREWS SINGLE FAMILY HOMES | 120 | 0 |
| MT PLEASANT MHP, LLC | 117 | 0 |
| ROUTE 7 DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM | 100 | 0 |
| ARTESIAN WATER PA INC | 95 | 0 |
| INGRAMS POINT (AWC) | 87 | 0 |
| CHESTNUT POINT ESTATES WTP | 82 | 0 |
| CARPENTERS ROW | 60 | 0 |
TRI Facilities (34)
Cities in New Castle (12)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the environmental risk level in New Castle, Delaware? ▼
Are there Superfund sites in New Castle? ▼
How many toxic release facilities are in New Castle? ▼
What is the air quality in New Castle? ▼
Is the drinking water safe in New Castle? ▼
What environmental agencies cover New Castle? ▼
What does this county environmental profile show?
This county environmental profile rolls up EPA Toxics Release Inventory facility reports, Safe Drinking Water Information System public-water-system filings, and Superfund National Priorities List sites for the county boundary defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Facility counts reflect facilities with a reporting address inside the county, not where downstream environmental effects may be observed. Population figures are from the most recent Census ACS 5-year estimate. The county detail page is updated whenever the upstream EPA programs publish revised data; see the methodology page for the documented ingest cadence and the editorial choices governing how aggregations are computed.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.