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Stephens County, Georgia: environmental and disease records

Cancer mortality in Stephens County is 202.7 deaths per 100,000 people per year against a U.S. rate of 143.2, a statistically significant excess. The strongest disease signals are Bladder deaths at 2.2 times the U.S. rate and Liver & bile duct deaths at 1.9 times the U.S. rate. Federal databases place 331 regulated facilities, sites and hazards inside the county, led by NPDES wastewater discharge permit (152), Industrial wastewater discharge (72), Rail grade crossing (46). 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: 34.5764, -83.2813.

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 Stephens County compared with the United States
Cancer	Measure	County rate	U.S. rate	Times U.S.	95% interval	Years
Bladder	Deaths	8.9	4.1	2.17xSignificant	5 to 15	2020-2024
Liver & bile duct	Deaths	12.4	6.6	1.88xSignificant	7.7 to 19.1	2020-2024
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	Deaths	8.2	4.8	1.71x	4.6 to 13.8	2020-2024
Brain & nervous system	New cases	9.8	6.2	1.58x	5.5 to 16.3	2019-2023
Thyroid	New cases	19.6	13	1.51x	12.7 to 29	2019-2023
Lung & bronchus	Deaths	44.6	30.2	1.48xSignificant	35.7 to 55.5	2020-2024
Lung & bronchus	New cases	73.9	51.8	1.43xSignificant	62.3 to 87.4	2019-2023
All cancer	Deaths	202.7	143.2	1.42xSignificant	182.5 to 224.7	2020-2024
Bladder	New cases	24.5	18.7	1.31x	17.8 to 33	2019-2023
Kidney & renal pelvis	New cases	21.3	17.9	1.19x	14.5 to 30.2	2019-2023
All cancer	New cases	529.3	453.4	1.17xSignificant	495.3 to 565.1	2019-2023
Melanoma of the skin	New cases	26.7	23.8	1.12x	19.7 to 35.7	2019-2023
Pancreas	New cases	15.3	13.9	1.1x	10.3 to 22.2	2019-2023
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma	New cases	18.6	18.5	1.01x	12.7 to 26.5	2019-2023
Pancreas	Deaths	9.6	11.3	0.85x	5.8 to 15.4	2020-2024
Leukemia	New cases	12.3	14.5	0.85x	7.7 to 18.9	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 Stephens County
Measure	County	U.S. median	Difference	Unit
Premature death	12,942.8	9,842.6	+31%	years of life lost before age 75 per 100,000
Life expectancy	71.5	75.3	-5%	years
Child mortality	60.7	59.8	+2%	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	118.5	96.9	+22%	deaths per 100,000
Drug overdose deaths	27.6	28.6	-4%	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.

Formaldehyde22.92 per million
Carbon Tetrachloride2.87 per million
Acetaldehyde2.26 per million
Benzene0.87 per million

EPA Air Quality Index

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

Regulated facilities, sites and hazards by type

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

NPDES wastewater discharge permit152
Industrial wastewater discharge72
Rail grade crossing46
Air permit holder (minor source)26
Gas station (mapped facility)9
Small hazardous waste generator7
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI)5
TRI reporting facility4
Brownfield property3
Large hazardous waste generator3
Commercial airport1
Hazardous waste transporter1
Hydroelectric plant1
Scrapyard (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.

Fieldale Farms Toccoa Protien Converson Facility, Eastanollee
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitrate compounds (water dissociable; reportable only when in aqueous solution), Ammonia, Hydrogen sulfide. 224,995 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 30577FLDLFGA145 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 7.1
Eaton Aerospace Toccoa Plant, Eastanollee
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Nitric acid, Nickel, Chromium. Reports carcinogens. 255 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 30577TNRSPMEADO (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 6.3
Fieldale Farms Corp, Eastanollee
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110000859401 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 6.3
Patterson Pump Co, Toccoa
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Copper, Manganese, Nickel, Chromium. Reports carcinogens. 63 lbs released over 5 years.
TRI facility ID 30577PTTRSHWY12 (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 5.9
Patterson Pump Company, Toccoa
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110043089546 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.9
Team Metal Finishing, Toccoa
Large hazardous waste generator. Penalties $9,200.
EPA FRS registry ID 110054884942 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.8
American Woodmark Corporation, Eastanollee
Small hazardous waste generator.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064136929 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
American Woodmark Corporation, Eastanollee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064136929 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Nifco Ktw, Toccoa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110064735648 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Reeves Construction Co- Toccoa Plt-Ap-71, Toccoa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070020740 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Heidelberg Materials Southeast Agg Llc - Toccoa Quarry, Toccoa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070023756 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Coats & Clark, Toccoa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070026419 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.5
Reeves Construction Co-Toccoa Shop, Toccoa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110070011643 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4.3
Morgan Concrete Co. - Toccoa, Toccoa
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110017713982 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Nifco Ktw, Toccoa
Air permit holder (minor source).
EPA FRS registry ID 110064735648 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Sark Wire Georgia, Eastanollee
TRI reporting facility.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071947936 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 4
Toccoa, City Of (Eastanollee Creek Wpcp), Toccoa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110009139761 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.8
Pine Cove (Georgia Baptist Conference Center Wpcp), Toccoa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110008982075 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Dewtex, Inc., Eastanollee
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $2,000.
EPA FRS registry ID 110022406369 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Team Metal Finishing, Toccoa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit. Penalties $9,200.
EPA FRS registry ID 110054884942 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3.3
Morgan Concrete Co. - Toccoa, Toccoa
Toxic chemical release facility (TRI). Chemicals: Lead And Lead Compounds.
TRI facility ID 3057WMRGNC35LCU (U.S. EPA Toxics Release Inventory)
Severity 3
Former American Heritage Furniture, Toccoa
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071974733 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Toccoa-West Currahee Street, Toccoa
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071977406 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Toccoa-North Broad Street, Toccoa
Brownfield property.
EPA FRS registry ID 110071977409 (U.S. EPA Brownfields (ACRES)) Agency record
Severity 3
Toccoa, City Of (Toccoa Creek Wpcp), Toccoa
NPDES wastewater discharge permit.
EPA FRS registry ID 110010041551 (U.S. EPA ECHO) Agency record
Severity 3

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 Stephens 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 Stephens 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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