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Hale County, Alabama: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Hale County is 192.7 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Lung & bronchus deaths at 1.5 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 158 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by Industrial wastewater discharge (57), NPDES wastewater discharge permit (42), Rail grade crossing (18). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 30 in a million, driven mainly by formaldehyde.

Rates are age-adjusted per 100,000 people. A cancer signal is marked significant when the lower bound of its 95 percent confidence interval is above the U.S. rate. Facility counts use active federal records located inside the county boundary. Approximate county center: 32.7441, -87.6382.

How this county ranks in Alabama

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Cancer deaths and new cases versus the United States

Source: NCI and CDC State Cancer Profiles, both sexes, all ages. Sorted by the ratio of the county rate to the U.S. rate.

Cancer rates for Hale County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	45.1	30.2	1.49xSignificant	33.5 to 60.1	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	192.7	143.2	1.35xSignificant	166.1 to 222.7	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	64.7	51.8	1.25x	50.3 to 82.6	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	20.1	17.9	1.12x	11.8 to 32.4	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	446.8	453.4	0.99x	405 to 492.1	2019-2023

Mortality measures versus the U.S. county median

Source: County Health Rankings, built from CDC National Vital Statistics System death records. The comparison value is the median of all U.S. counties.

Mortality measures for Hale County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	15,927.5	9,842.6	+62%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	69.9	75.3	-7%	years
Child mortality	100.2	59.8	+68%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	n/a	6.2	n/a	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	98.1	96.9	+1%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	n/a	28.6	n/a	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 30 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde25.74 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.92 per million
Acetaldehyde2.65 per million
Pahpom0.82 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

No EPA air quality monitor reports daily AQI for this county.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

158 active records inside the county from EPA ECHO, TRI, Superfund, Brownfields, NPDES, EIA, FAA, FRA and corrections data.

Industrial wastewater discharge57
NPDES wastewater discharge permit42
Rail grade crossing18
Gas station (mapped facility)12
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)7
Scrapyard (mapped facility)6
Air permit holder (minor source)5
Public airport3
Major air pollution source2
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)1
Small hazardous waste generator1
Heliport1
Biomass power plant1
TRI reporting facility1
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)1

Highest-severity records

The 25 records with the highest Envyrofax severity in the county, with the agency identifier to cite in a records request.

Westervelt Lumber Moundville, Moundville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Lead And Lead Compounds. 246,575 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 35474GLFST2500G (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.1
Westervelt Lumber Moundville, Llc, Moundville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007233047 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.2
Greensboro Lagoon, Greensboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002041585 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5
Two Speed Salvage, Moundville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070865937 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Westervelt Lumber Moundville, Llc, Moundville
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007233047 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Southern Natural Gas, Gallion
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007914105 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.5
Westervelt Lumber Moundville, Llc, Moundville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007233047 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Southern Natural Gas, Gallion
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007914105 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3
Cypress Pit, Cypress
Industrial wastewater discharge. No Violation Identified.
NPDES permit ALG850070: (U.S. EPA NPDES)
Severity 2.5
Westervelt Moundville Cogen, Moundville
Biomass power plant.
Record ID 57467 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 2.5
Moundville Lagoon, Moundville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110055974272 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 2.3
Greensboro Muni, Greensboro
Public airport. O.
Record ID 7A0 (FAA / U.S. DOT)
Severity 2
Holiday Cleaners, Greensboro
Dry cleaner (mapped facility). Mapped facility presence only; no compliance or exposure measurements.
Record ID way/923500095 (OpenStreetMap contributors) Agency record
Severity 2
Jet Epic Moundville Terminal, Moundville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007916782 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Akron Lagoon, Akron
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110056000884 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Cypress Pit, Cypress
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110062648434 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.8
Hunt Refining Co, Moundville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007236446 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
South Main Lines And Related Facilities Countywide, Hale County, Al, Gallion
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010099598 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Colonial Pipeline Moundville Station, Moundville
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110015707993 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Royster Recycling, Marion
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110024883045 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Jimmy'S Food Mart, Greensboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110030772974 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Kitchens Borrow Pit, Akron
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110045516768 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Greensboro Farmers' Co-Op, Greensboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110063718703 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
Heartland Catfish - Greensboro Facility, Greensboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064214461 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5
C & D Recycling, Llc, Greensboro
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110067583341 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 1.5

Correctional facilities

Prisons, jails and corrections operations with an EPA facility record, and the drinking water and wastewater compliance attached to them.

No correctional facility with an EPA record is located in this county.

Discovery / public records

Records to request for Hale County

Alabama state cancer registry
Cancer incidence counts by census tract or ZIP code, by cancer type and year (de-identified). Any cancer cluster inquiries or investigations in Hale County, and their findings.
Alabama vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
Alabama health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
Alabama environmental agency and the U.S. EPA regional office
Compliance history, inspection reports, notices of violation, penalties and enforcement actions for each facility above, cited by EPA FRS registry ID.
Alabama drinking water program
Violation notices, sampling results and sanitary surveys for the public water systems serving the county, including any system serving a correctional facility.
Department of corrections or county sheriff
Water testing, grievances and environmental health inspections for the correctional facilities listed above.

Each Envyrofax address report includes a printable records request worksheet with the custodian and the exact request wording per finding.

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