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Shelby County, Alabama: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Shelby County is 114.4 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 1,786 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (651), Industrial wastewater discharge (629), Rail grade crossing (184). EPA AirToxScreen estimates a lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics of 40 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: 33.2821, -86.68.

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 Shelby County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Melanoma of the skin	Deaths	1.9	2	0.95x	1.3 to 2.9	2020-2024
Childhood cancer (under 15)	New cases	15.1	16.4	0.92x	10.3 to 21.3	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	5.2	5.7	0.91x	4 to 6.6	2020-2024
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	21.4	23.8	0.9x	19 to 24.2	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	16.8	18.7	0.9x	14.7 to 19.2	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	5.5	6.2	0.89x	4.3 to 7	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	12.2	13.9	0.88x	10.4 to 14.2	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	25.5	30.2	0.84x	22.9 to 28.2	2020-2024
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	15.1	17.9	0.84x	13.1 to 17.4	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	378.8	453.4	0.84x	368.4 to 389.5	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	3.9	4.8	0.81x	2.9 to 5.1	2020-2024
All cancer	Deaths	114.4	143.2	0.8x	108.9 to 120.2	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	6.8	8.7	0.78x	5.5 to 8.4	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	3.4	4.4	0.77x	2.5 to 4.6	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	39.8	51.8	0.77x	36.5 to 43.3	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	8.6	11.3	0.76x	7.1 to 10.3	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	13.8	18.5	0.75x	11.9 to 16	2019-2023
Bladder	Deaths	3	4.1	0.73x	2.1 to 4.1	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	4.8	6.6	0.73x	3.7 to 6.1	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	8.8	13	0.68x	7.1 to 10.6	2019-2023
Esophagus	Deaths	2.3	3.7	0.62x	1.6 to 3.2	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	9	14.5	0.62x	7.4 to 10.8	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	2.1	3.4	0.62x	1.4 to 3.1	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	2.6	4.6	0.57x	1.8 to 3.6	2019-2023
Stomach	Deaths	1.4	2.7	0.52x	0.9 to 2.2	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	3	6.6	0.45x	2.1 to 4.1	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 Shelby County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	6,795	9,842.6	-31%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	79.4	75.3	+5%	years
Child mortality	42.1	59.8	-29%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	5.2	6.2	-16%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	64.5	96.9	-33%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	25.1	28.6	-12%	deaths per 100,000

Air toxics and air quality

EPA AirToxScreen 2020

Lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics: 40 in a million. EPA treats 100 in a million as the upper end of acceptable risk and 1 in a million as the goal.

Formaldehyde27.34 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.89 per million
Acetaldehyde2.53 per million
Benzene1.09 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 243 days: 222 good, 0 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 36, peak 87.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

1,786 active records inside the county from EPA ECHO, TRI, Superfund, Brownfields, NPDES, EIA, FAA, FRA and corrections data.

NPDES wastewater discharge permit651
Industrial wastewater discharge629
Rail grade crossing184
Gas station (mapped facility)118
Small hazardous waste generator49
Air permit holder (minor source)39
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)23
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)20
TRI reporting facility16
Major air pollution source14
Large greenhouse gas emitter8
Large hazardous waste generator7
Public airport5
Hazardous waste transporter4
Heliport4
Landfill (mapped facility)4
Brownfield property3
EPA air quality monitor2
Scrapyard (mapped facility)2
Commercial airport1
Gas power plant1
Superfund (NPL) site1
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)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.

Alabama Plating Company, Inc., Vincent
Superfund (NPL) site. Hazard Ranking System score 30.2. NPL Site.
EPA site ID ALD004022448 (U.S. EPA Superfund (SEMS/NPL)) Agency record
Severity 10
Lhoist Na Of Alabama Llc-Montevallo Plant, Calera
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Hydrogen sulfide, Vanadium compounds, Nickel compounds and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 765,633 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 35115CHMCL7444S (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9
Lhoist Na Of Alabama Llc-O'Neal Plant, Calera
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Lead compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds and 3 more. Reports carcinogens. 764,958 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 35040CHMCL2885H (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9
E. C. Gaston Electric Generating Plant, Wilsonville
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Hydrogen fluoride, Sulfuric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Ammonia and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 283,222 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 35186LBMPWHWY25 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.7
Research Solutions Group Inc, Pelham
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, n-Hexane, Toluene, Dichloromethane and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 65,894 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 35124RSRCH402IN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.2
Carmeuse Lime & Stone Inc., Saginaw
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Vanadium compounds, Lead compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds, Mercury and 2 more. Reports carcinogens. 26,820 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 35137DRVLM599HW (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.9
Avanti Polar Lipids Inc, Alabaster
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Chloroform, Methanol, Toluene, n-Hexane. Reports carcinogens. 24,223 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 35007VNTPL700IN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.9
Stella-Jones Corp, Montevallo
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Creosote, Polycyclic aromatic compounds, Benzo[g,h,i]perylene, Copper compounds. Reports carcinogens. 17,538 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 35115SMNTMPOBOX (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.8
Lhoist North America Of Alabama Llc - Montevallo Plant, Calera
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $40,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110001147081 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.3
Carmeuse Lime & Stone, Inc., Saginaw
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $120,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038174711 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.1
Boatright Railroad Products, Montevallo
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000747773 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.9
Avanti Polar Lipids Inc, Alabaster
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $35,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000365989 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8
Argos Cement Llc - Roberta Plant, Calera
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Mercury compounds, Manganese And Manganese Compounds, Manganese compounds and 4 more. 78,206 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 35040BLCRC8039H (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.8
L'Hoist Na Of Alabama Llc - O'Neal Plant, Calera
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008056584 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.6
E C Gaston, Wilsonville
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000589097 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.6
Research Solutions Group Inc, Pelham
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000366390 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.4
Glidewell Specialties Foundry Co Inc., Calera
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Manganese, Copper, Lead. Reports carcinogens. 232 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 3504WGLDWL6FUND (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.3
Argos Cement Llc - Roberta Plant, Calera
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000589015 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.2
Lhoist Na Of Alabama-Alabaster Plant, Alabaster
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Vanadium compounds, Lead compounds, Mercury compounds. 6,515 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 35007CHMCL404FI (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.9
Mcwane Plant & Industrial Llc, Calera
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nickel, Chromium, Manganese. Reports carcinogens. 68 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 3504WLBMDY61FUN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.9
Carmeuse Lime & Stone, Inc., Saginaw
Major air pollution source. Penalties $120,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110038174711 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 5.3
E C Gaston, Wilsonville
Gas power plant.
Record ID 26 (U.S. Energy Information Administration)
Severity 4.9
Mississippi Lime Co - Calera Plant, Calera
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead compounds, Lead And Lead Compounds, Mercury And Mercury Compounds, Mercury compounds. 197 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 35040PKLMN8039H (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 4.8
Avanti Polar Lipids Inc, Alabaster
Major air pollution source. Penalties $35,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000365989 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
Boatright Railroad Products, Montevallo
Major air pollution source.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000747773 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8

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 Shelby 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 Shelby 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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