Stearns, MN
A PlainEnviro-computed score from reported facility/violation counts, not an official EPA rating, health forecast, or population-adjusted rate. See methodology.
Environmental data for Stearns in Minnesota · Population: 159,358
Stearns, MN is tracked across three EPA datasets covering 25 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) facilities, 29 Safe Drinking Water Act systems, and 0 Superfund National Priorities List sites. Together these generate an environmental burden score of 48/100 (Moderate Risk), calibrated against national distributions for facility density, chemical release volume, Superfund concentration, and water-system health violations.
Industrial disclosures inside the county total 1.2M lbs of reported toxic releases under EPCRA Section 313, while 4 water systems carry an active health-based violation in the SDWIS record. EPA Air Quality System monitors logged a median AQI of 39 and a peak AQI of 97 in 2024, with 77% 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 | 282 (77%) | 84 | 0 | 97 |
| 2023 | 199 (55%) | 152 | 11 | 184 |
| 2022 | 204 (74%) | 73 | 0 | 78 |
| 2021 | 261 (72%) | 95 | 3 | 252 |
| 2020 | 309 (84%) | 57 | 0 | 80 |
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 Minnesota, see the EPA's AirNow.gov.
Water Systems (29)
| System | Population | Violations |
|---|---|---|
| Saint Cloud | 71,321 | 0 |
| Sartell | 20,300 | 0 |
| Waite Park | 8,354 | 0 |
| Saint Joseph | 7,100 | 0 |
| Sauk Centre | 4,573 | 0 |
| Cold Spring | 4,201 | 0 |
| Melrose | 3,677 | 0 |
| Albany | 2,805 | 0 |
| Paynesville | 2,530 | 0 |
| Saint John's University | 2,500 | 1 |
| Clearwater | 2,129 | 0 |
| Avon | 1,667 | 0 |
| College of St. Benedict | 1,600 | 0 |
| Richmond | 1,485 | 0 |
| Saint Augusta | 1,425 | 0 |
| Kimball | 911 | 0 |
| Holdingford | 770 | 0 |
| Rockville | 765 | 0 |
| Belgrade | 745 | 0 |
| Freeport | 685 | 0 |
| Saint Martin | 343 | 0 |
| New Munich | 320 | 0 |
| South Haven | 183 | 0 |
| Evergreen Hills Mobile Home Park | 144 | 1 |
| Roscoe | 104 | 1 |
| Clearwater Harbor Property, Incorporated | 70 | 0 |
| Big Sauk Lake Mobile Home Park | 68 | 1 |
| Crestwood Hills Addition | 35 | 0 |
| Grove Place Apartments | 25 | 0 |
TRI Facilities (25)
| # | Facility | Total Releases |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Associated Milk Producers Inc. | 285.9K lbs |
| 2 | Proliant Dairy Ingredients | 162.4K lbs |
| 3 | Carfair Composites USA Inc - St. Cloud | 162.3K lbs |
| 4 | Pilgrim's Cold Springs Processing Plant | 142.1K lbs |
| 5 | Carstens Industries Fiberglass Manufacturing | 138.4K lbs |
| 6 | Grede LLC Saint Cloud | 109.9K lbs |
| 7 | New Flyer of America | 94.9K lbs |
| 8 | Kerry Inc | 37.6K lbs |
| 9 | Land O'Lakes - Melrose | 25.9K lbs |
| 10 | Nahan Printing Inc | 16.2K lbs |
| 11 | Polar Tank Trailer | 15.7K lbs |
| 12 | Coldspring | 12.1K lbs |
| 13 | Dci Inc | 696 lbs |
| 14 | Columbia Gear Corp | 477 lbs |
| 15 | Knife River St. Joseph Ready Mix | 280 lbs |
| 16 | Precision Optics | 191 lbs |
| 17 | Dezurik Inc. | 33 lbs |
| 18 | Park Industries | 25 lbs |
| 19 | Electrolux Home Products | 11 lbs |
| 20 | Cemstone - St. Cloud | 2 lbs |
| 21 | Acp - St. Joseph | 1 lbs |
| 22 | Wells Concrete Products - Albany | 0 lbs |
| 23 | Jennie-O Turkey Store - Melrose East | 0 lbs |
| 24 | Novae Llc- Midsota Mfg. | 0 lbs |
| 25 | Knife River Corp N Central Richmond | 0 lbs |
Cities in Stearns (12)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the environmental risk level in Stearns, Minnesota? ▼
Are there Superfund sites in Stearns? ▼
How many toxic release facilities are in Stearns? ▼
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Is the drinking water safe in Stearns? ▼
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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.