Sussex, 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 Sussex in Delaware · Population: 247,799
Sussex, DE is tracked across three EPA datasets covering 20 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) facilities, 67 Safe Drinking Water Act systems, and 0 Superfund National Priorities List sites. Together these generate an environmental burden score of 50/100 (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 5.4M lbs of reported toxic releases under EPCRA Section 313, while 25 water systems carry an active health-based violation in the SDWIS record. EPA Air Quality System monitors logged a median AQI of 40 and a peak AQI of 90 in 2024, with 82% 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 | 298 (82%) | 67 | 0 | 90 |
| 2023 | 215 (59%) | 144 | 3 | 203 |
| 2022 | 274 (75%) | 91 | 0 | 87 |
| 2021 | 277 (76%) | 88 | 0 | 100 |
| 2020 | 286 (78%) | 80 | 0 | 87 |
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 (67)
| System | Population | Violations |
|---|---|---|
| DEWEY BEACH WATER DEPARTMENT | 31,000 | 0 |
| REHOBOTH BEACH WATER DEPARTMENT | 25,000 | 0 |
| SUSSEX SHORES WATER COMPANY | 12,450 | 0 |
| BETHANY BEACH WATER DEPARTMENT | 12,000 | 0 |
| LONG NECK WATER COMPANY | 11,000 | 0 |
| MILFORD WATER DEPARTMENT | 9,800 | 1 |
| LEWES BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS | 9,627 | 2 |
| MILLSBORO WATER DEPARTMENT | 8,568 | 6 |
| GEORGETOWN WATER DEPARTMENT | 7,259 | 1 |
| SEAFORD WATER DEPARTMENT | 6,699 | 1 |
| BRIDGEVILLE WATER DEPARTMENT | 6,000 | 0 |
| LAUREL WATER DEPARTMENT | 3,984 | 3 |
| SELBYVILLE WATER DEPARTMENT | 3,502 | 5 |
| MILTON WATER DEPARTMENT | 3,200 | 0 |
| DELMAR UTILITY COMM (TN OF DELMAR) | 2,027 | 0 |
| REHOBOTH BAY COMMUNITY | 1,575 | 1 |
| MALLARD LAKES | 1,500 | 0 |
| ANGOLA BEACH ESTATES | 1,400 | 0 |
| BLADES, TOWN OF | 1,200 | 1 |
| GREENWOOD WATER DEPARTMENT | 973 | 2 |
| DAGSBORO WATER DEPT | 934 | 0 |
| LAUREL VILLAGE MHC | 918 | 0 |
| BAYWOOD GREENS | 909 | 0 |
| SEAGLASS AT REHOBOTH BEACH | 674 | 0 |
| HOME TOWN VILLAGE OF COOL BRANCH | 654 | 8 |
| VALLEY RUN WATER SYSTEM | 626 | 0 |
| CEDAR VILLAGE LLC | 600 | 2 |
| CAPE WINDSOR COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION INC | 600 | 0 |
| TALL PINES RESORT COMMUNITY SYS1 | 538 | 4 |
| BAYSHORE MOBILE HOME PARK | 533 | 2 |
| HENLOPEN ACRES, TOWN OF | 522 | 0 |
| SILVER VIEW FARM | 398 | 0 |
| SAND HILL ACRES | 384 | 0 |
| LAKE HAVEN MOBILE HOME PARK | 384 | 1 |
| GREATER ELLENDALE WATER DISTRICT | 350 | 0 |
| LONG NECK VILLAGE | 345 | 0 |
| SHAWNS HIDEAWAY SYSTEM #1 | 341 | 0 |
| NEW MARKET VILLAGE | 321 | 0 |
| CAREY ESTATES, LLC | 312 | 2 |
| AVALON WOODS OWNERS ASSOC INC | 306 | 1 |
| COUNTY SEAT GARDENS | 297 | 2 |
| COUNTRY LIVING MOBILE COURT | 255 | 0 |
| PINE RIDGE MOBILE HOME PARK | 222 | 0 |
| LOVE CREEK MHC | 210 | 0 |
| PEPPER RIDGE PARK | 209 | 0 |
| TODDS MOBILE COURT | 189 | 0 |
| COLONIAL ESTATES MOBILE HOME PARK | 165 | 0 |
| ANGOLA CREST II | 159 | 1 |
| SHADY ACRES MOBILE HOME PARK | 152 | 0 |
| QUILLENS POINT | 150 | 0 |
| PINE VALLEY MOBILE HOME PARK | 141 | 0 |
| HOLIDAY ACRES, LLC | 132 | 0 |
| SAND HILL MOBILE HOME PARK | 120 | 0 |
| BETHANY CREST LLC | 115 | 6 |
| SHADY OAK TRAILER COURT | 108 | 0 |
| CAPTAIN'S WAY | 102 | 0 |
| GREENWOOD LIFE COMMUNITY | 100 | 0 |
| STAGE VILLAGE MHC | 93 | 0 |
| CHERRY CREEK VALLEY | 78 | 13 |
| FISH HOOK MOBILE HOME PARK | 72 | 3 |
| COUNTRYSIDE HAMLET | 66 | 2 |
| COUNTRY REST HOME | 65 | 1 |
| PLEASANT ACRES, LLC | 60 | 0 |
| TALL PINES RESORT COMMUNITY SYS2 | 53 | 0 |
| GREENWOOD COUNTRY RETIREMENT | 50 | 0 |
| BRUMBLEY'S FAMILY PARK | 48 | 0 |
| FOREST PARK | 25 | 36 |
TRI Facilities (20)
| # | Facility | Total Releases |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mountaire Farms of Delaware Inc | 2.6M lbs |
| 2 | Perdue Foods LLC - Georgetown Processing Plant | 2.2M lbs |
| 3 | Allen Harim Foods LLC - Harbeson | 434.5K lbs |
| 4 | Simmons Bridgeville | 60.3K lbs |
| 5 | Justin Tanks LLC | 42.8K lbs |
| 6 | Indian River Generating Station | 19.7K lbs |
| 7 | Mountaire Farms Inc. - Selbyville Plant | 16.2K lbs |
| 8 | The Pictsweet Co - Bridgeville de Plant | 4.3K lbs |
| 9 | Orient Corp of America | 603 lbs |
| 10 | Allen Harim Foods LLC - Millsboro | 535 lbs |
| 11 | Brainerd LLC | 521 lbs |
| 12 | Intervet Inc. (dba Merck Animal Health) | 6 lbs |
| 13 | Dentsply Sirona - Milford Site | 1 lbs |
| 14 | Bridgeville Feed Mill & Grain Storage | 0 lbs |
| 15 | Amick Farms LLC | 0 lbs |
| 16 | Mountaire Farms Inc - Frankford Feed Mill | 0 lbs |
| 17 | Spi Pharma Inc. | 0 lbs |
| 18 | Gac Seaford Inc | 0 lbs |
| 19 | Allen Harim Farms Llc- Seaford Mill | 0 lbs |
| 20 | Seaford Rmc Facility | 0 lbs |
Cities in Sussex (10)
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.