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Chatham County, Georgia: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Chatham County is 138 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2. Federal databases place 3,558 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (1,320), Industrial wastewater discharge (1,300), Wastewater plant (mapped facility) (198). 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: 31.9787, -81.0747.

How this county ranks in Georgia

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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 Chatham County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	31.7	23.8	1.33xSignificant	29.1 to 34.6	2019-2023
Leukemia	Deaths	6.7	5.7	1.18x	5.5 to 8	2020-2024
Bladder	Deaths	4.7	4.1	1.15x	3.8 to 5.9	2020-2024
Esophagus	New cases	5.2	4.6	1.13x	4.2 to 6.4	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	20.2	17.9	1.13xSignificant	18.1 to 22.4	2019-2023
Esophagus	Deaths	3.9	3.7	1.05x	3.1 to 4.9	2020-2024
Stomach	Deaths	2.8	2.7	1.04x	2 to 3.7	2020-2024
Stomach	New cases	6.7	6.6	1.02x	5.5 to 8	2019-2023
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	6.6	6.6	1x	5.5 to 7.9	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	51.8	51.8	1x	48.5 to 55.2	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	440.5	453.4	0.97x	430.6 to 450.6	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	138	143.2	0.96x	132.5 to 143.6	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	New cases	8.3	8.7	0.95x	7 to 9.8	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	10.7	11.3	0.95x	9.2 to 12.3	2020-2024
Pancreas	New cases	12.9	13.9	0.93x	11.3 to 14.7	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	27.9	30.2	0.92x	25.6 to 30.5	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	Deaths	3.9	4.4	0.89x	3 to 5	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	16	18.5	0.86x	14.2 to 18.1	2019-2023
Brain & nervous system	New cases	5.3	6.2	0.85x	4.2 to 6.6	2019-2023
Childhood cancer (under 15)	New cases	13.7	16.4	0.84x	9.6 to 18.9	2019-2023
Bladder	New cases	15	18.7	0.8x	13.3 to 17	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	Deaths	2.6	3.4	0.76x	1.9 to 3.5	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	3.6	4.8	0.75x	2.7 to 4.6	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	10.5	14.5	0.72x	9 to 12.2	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	Deaths	1.4	2	0.7x	0.9 to 2.1	2020-2024
Thyroid	New cases	8.7	13	0.67x	7.2 to 10.3	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 Chatham County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	10,235.3	9,842.6	+4%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	75.6	75.3	+0%	years
Child mortality	74.3	59.8	+24%	deaths under age 18 per 100,000
Infant mortality	7.4	6.2	+19%	deaths under age 1 per 1,000 live births
Injury deaths	82.7	96.9	-15%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	26.3	28.6	-8%	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.

Formaldehyde21.45 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.92 per million
Acetaldehyde1.85 per million
Benzene0.87 per million

EPA Air Quality Index 2025

Monitored on 365 days: 214 good, 0 unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse. Median AQI 47, peak 90.

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

3,558 active records inside the county from EPA ECHO, TRI, Superfund, Brownfields, NPDES, EIA, FAA, FRA and corrections data.

NPDES wastewater discharge permit1,320
Industrial wastewater discharge1,300
Wastewater plant (mapped facility)198
Air permit holder (minor source)173
Rail grade crossing164
Gas station (mapped facility)145
Small hazardous waste generator63
Auto repair or body shop (mapped facility)27
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)26
Landfill (mapped facility)25
TRI reporting facility25
Large hazardous waste generator21
Major air pollution source18
Brownfield property11
Large greenhouse gas emitter10
Scrapyard (mapped facility)9
Dry cleaner (mapped facility)5
Hazardous waste transporter4
Biomass power plant3
EPA air quality monitor2
Commercial airport2
Heliport2
Public airport1
Crematorium (mapped facility)1
Gas power plant1
Oil-fired power plant1
Solar power plant1

Highest-severity records

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

Basf Corporation - Savannah Operations, Savannah
TRI reporting facility. Penalties $5,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000360378 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 9.9
International Paper Co - Savannah Complex, Savannah
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Ammonia, Hydrogen sulfide, Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size) and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 4,413,999 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 31402NNCMPWESTL (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.6
International Paper Co - Port Wentworth, Port Wentworth
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methanol, Ammonia, Hydrochloric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size), Hydrogen sulfide and 4 more. Reports carcinogens. 2,461,647 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 31407STNCN1BONN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 9.4
Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Savannah
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110013316731 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.9
Sulfco, Llc, Savannah
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110002082353 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.9
Southern States Phosphate & Fe Rtilizer Co, Savannah
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110024415523 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.4
Johnson Matthey Process Technologies Inc, Savannah
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000360467 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 8.4
Gulfstream Aerospace Corp, Savannah
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Methyl isobutyl ketone, Toluene. Reports carcinogens. 90,450 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 31402GLFSTPOBOX (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 8.3
Basf Corp-Savannah Operations, Savannah
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Ammonia, Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Nitric acid, Formic acid. 2,673,566 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 31404KTLST1800E (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.9
Solenis Llc, Savannah
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Epichlorohydrin, Methanol, Formic acid. Reports carcinogens. 18,557 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 31401HRCLSOLDLO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.8
Johnson Matthey Process Technologies Inc, Savannah
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Formic acid, Ammonia, Zinc compounds and 1 more. 1,108,401 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 31408NTRCT115EL (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.6
Emd Performance Materials Corp, Savannah
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Ammonia, Nitric acid. 714,521 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 31408MNDSTOLEAR (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.5
International Paper - Savanna Mill, Savannah
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000740958 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.5
Hunter Army Airfield Firing Ranges, Hunter Army Airfield
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead. Reports carcinogens. 3,114 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 3140WHNTRR16MAC (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.2
Emd Performance Materials Corp, Savannah
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110007486185 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.2
Ashland Chemical Company, Savannah
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000621792 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7.2
Thomas Concrete Savannah, Pooler
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110028005913 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions, Inc., Garden City
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110044220973 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Cmc Rebar Savannah, Pooler
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070790384 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Savannah (Plant 11), Savannah
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071284690 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 7
Basf Corporation - Savannah Operations, Savannah
Major air pollution source. Penalties $5,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000360378 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.8
Southern States Chemical Seapoint, Savannah
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Sulfuric acid (acid aerosols including mists, vapors, gas, fog, and other airborne forms of any particle size). 56,000 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 31404KMRNCEASTP (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.6
Weyerhaeuser - Port Wentworth Facility, Port Wentworth
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110005670336 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.6
Owens Corning Roofing & Asphalt Llc, Savannah
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead And Lead Compounds, Polycyclic aromatic compounds, Copper And Copper Compounds, Copper compounds and 1 more. Reports carcinogens. 461 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 31498MNVLL1FOUN (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.5
Kraton Chemical Co Llc, Savannah
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Biphenyl, Hydrogen sulfide, Maleic anhydride. 39,286 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 31415RZNCH121WL (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.5

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 Chatham County

Georgia 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 Chatham County, and their findings.
Georgia vital statistics office
Death certificate counts by cause of death and residence tract or ZIP code, and the years behind the mortality measures above.
Georgia health department, environmental epidemiology
Health consultations or assessments by ATSDR or the state health department covering the county, and any exposure investigations.
Georgia 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.
Georgia 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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